Time and Distance
by weezer42
Summary: Stabby - Two years post S2Ep7 - Abby reflects on her life...then is given the chance to press the reset button for herself.
1. History always repeats

10/04/08

Title: Time and Distance.

Chapter: One – History always repeats.

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: two years plus after the end of S2Ep7.

Pairing: Abby/Connor to start with, Abby/Stephen to end with.

Tagline: Abby reflects on her life...and is given a chance to press the reset button for herself.

**Author's Note**:

What can I say? I couldn't keep away.

This picks up a couple of years after Stephen's demise. It is almost completely AU, using the time-line established in series 2 to base the characters and their past histories on, so not all of the facts will jibe with what we know about the characters from series one. Something else. I have never believed, from the performances put on the screen in either series one or series two, that Connor was right for Abby or that they had the sort of chemistry on screen necessary to pursue a serious relationship. He was no way ready for a committed relationship and needed a great deal more life experience before settling down. That said, I just think he is wrong for her, certainly in relation to series two Abby and the way she is portrayed. So if you are a Cobby/Cabby or whatever fan, you are not going to like this story.

Oh, and as far as I'm concerned, the location of the ARC is still a bone of contention, so I've centralised it in Birmingham this time.

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"Con, get the phone would you?"

Sunlight stabbed at her eyelids, the headache growing exponentially with the volume of the phone ringing off the hook.

"Con! Get the bloody phone!" She waited a beat, then sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The room tilted and she groaned. "Dammit...I'll kill you if I find you sitting out there and just ignoring it."

Slowly standing up she staggered a little but made it to the door, her stomach lurching queasily. The phone continued its incessant racket, Abby squinting at the light flooding into their small flat. "Bloody sunshine...why does it have to be so bright?"

Shading her eyes she tottered over to the phone and snatched it off its cradle, the silence total and very welcome. Bringing it slowly to her ear she muttered her name into the receiver.

"Abby Temple speaking..."

"Mrs. Temple this is the police..."

"Oh my God! What's happened...Connor...is Connor alright?" Abby felt the room start to darken, her heart thumping heavily in her chest. The voice on the end of the phone continued to speak despite her interruption.

"...we have a man here who has given your name as a contact. Rather, we found your name on his person."

"What? Then Connor hasn't been in an accident? He's not dead?"

"I presume you are referring to your husband, Mrs. Temple?"

"Of course I'm referring to him...who else?" Abby felt a sharp stab of pain lance through her head, lifting her hand to press her fingers against her forehead in a vain attempt to ease the throbbing.

"We seem to be talking at cross purposes Mrs. Temple..."

"Abby...for goodness sake call me Abby..."

"Well...Abby...as I was saying, we have a man here who has your name as a contact. I was hoping you could come down to the station and identify him."

"Where abouts are you?" Abby pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Sorry, didn't I say...Hollingsworth Police Station, on the Manchester Road."

"Manchester? You must be joking."

"Not that I'm aware of Mrs. Temple."

"Abby...does this man have a name?"

"That's why we're calling you. He had no identifying documents on him, other than your name and phone number on a slip of paper in his pocket. I'm afraid he's not being very co-operative, so we have him in custody until we can verify his identity."

"But I don't live anywhere near Manchester," Abby stated, her head slowly clearing but still aching from the previous nights over indulgence. If she was truthful, it had been several nights of over indulgence, including most of the days as well.

"So I understand from you phone number. Are you able to come up sometime today or tomorrow. We really would appreciate your help in this matter."

"Yeah...alright...alright...um...I've got a few days off...I see what I can arrange. Give me your contact number and address and I'll let you know when I'm due to arrive."

Abby hung up the phone after several minutes and just stood staring at the piece of paper in her hand. A shiver shook her frame, reminding her that she was standing in little more than her underwear and the central heating wasn't on. As Connor hadn't appeared from out of the side rooms, she deduced he was out. Swearing under her breath, she scurried to the bathroom and quickly turned the shower on.

Half an hour later she emerged swathed in toweling robe and turban, her feet encased in a pair of toweling slippers to complete the ensemble. All of them bore the mark of a fancy hotel they'd stayed at for their honeymoon. Shuffling her way to the kitchen she flipped on the jug and hastily turned up the thermostat. With a steaming cup of coffee in her hand she investigated her reptile collection, thankful that the heat lamps kept the tanks nice and toasty for her scaly pets.

Sitting down on the battered leather couch, she propped her feet up on the coffee table and contemplated her plans for the day.

She had been partially truthful about having time off. She was in point of fact on permanent leave. Activity at the ARC had slowed in the past three months, and with the number of teams increased to cover the few anomalies that still popped up, Abby's time was spent more in the laboratory and less in the field these days. Not that she was complaining, exactly. After the incidents with Leek and Helen Cutter resulting in Stephen's death, things had radically changed. Lester was no longer prepared to risk his most knowledgeable people out in the field without considerable back up, and when multiple anomalies appeared, the remaining team members were sent to head up individual teams of operatives and specialists. It meant they never got to work together any more, but instead had to adapt to being sent out on a moments notice, but forced to take a back seat to avoid any risk.

It proved a frustrating and infuriating period of adjustment.

In a matter of days after Stephen's funeral Connor had proposed and Abby had accepted. In hindsight it was probably not the best time to be making life changing decisions, but everyone had seemed to be happy for them, so they acted on impulse and tied the knot. Shortly afterwards they were forced to find other accommodation as the flat Abby had been taking care of was needed by it's original owner who was finally returning from their trip overseas. They'd found a place not far from the ARC which seemed like a good idea at the time, but proved both a blessing and a curse.

Being so close to work, Connor started to spend more time there than at home. Six months after getting married, Abby saw more of her team mates than her husband. She missed him, missed the camaraderie, the teasing and flirting, the simple pleasures they'd enjoyed as flatmates. When an accident took Rex from her life, and Nick decided to follow up on reports that anomalies were finally appearing beyond England's shores, Abby started to feel more and more isolated.

A year after what was now being called The Event, she and Connor had started to argue over the most petty of reasons. They had no major financial burdens, but Connor seemed to lack the basic ability to keep himself out of debt for more than two minutes. Whether it was spending on a bigger and better computer system, bigger plasma television or just buying up a wealth of DVD's until they had cabinets full of them, enough to start their own rental company. Abby was the one to make sure the bills were covered and the fridge kept full. She also paid to have a housekeeper service keep the flat in some sort of tidy state, both Connor and herself not having the time for housework and chasing after anomalies.

Now they were about to celebrate their second wedding anniversary and Abby was seriously thinking of asking for a divorce. Connor had been acting strangely, secretively and she couldn't get him to open up to her any more. They were seeing less and less of each other until Abby asked for an extended leave, siting stress as her reason, in the hopes they could reconnect. Connor had refused to request time off, leaving her to kick around the flat for the first few days until she decided what she was going to do with her time alone.

After several days of prevarication she had wandered along to a talk being given at the local community hall, having seen it advertised in the local paper. The speaker was a man who had spent a great deal of his time with both Greenpeace and the World Wildlife fund as a volunteer, his travels around the world and helping in several conservation projects an abundant source of amusing anecdotes and fascinating travel diaries. Sitting in the back of the hall listening enthralled, it took her back to her time spent at University before she cut it short to go work for the Zoo. She'd so ardently wanted to study zoology and attended all the meetings of the campus conservation society, volunteering for protests and leaflet drops, fund-raising and anything going. In the end the lure of a hands on position in the reptile house had proved too attractive to pass up and she's left Uni to pursue her love of conservation through the endangered species breeding program.

That in turn had meant her becoming seconded to the anomaly project as a reptile expert only a short time after she'd completed her first paper towards a degree via correspondence while working at the zoo.

Now, after hearing this man speak, she wanted to get back into her first love – conservation and endangered species. Of course, to hear Connor talk, you'd think that the most endangered species on the planet was man.

Drinking the dregs of her now cold coffee, Abby sighed deeply and hoisted herself off the sofa, padding across the floor to the kitchen, then back to the bedroom. The flat was starting to warm up and she sloughed off the robe like a second skin. She stared at herself critically in the long mirror propped against the wall. She had lost weight, the muscles of her stomach and legs more heavily defined, as were her arms. Her hair hung about her pale face accusingly, the colour somewhere between black and brown, the ragged ends reflecting the home hair cut she'd performed when drunk out of her tree. She twisted from side to side, looking at herself from different angles. At twenty five she was starting to wonder what it would feel like to have a child, to see her belly grow large. Pulling on a baggy t-shirt, she snagged one of the pillows and shoved it under the shirt, positioning it so it stuck out as she'd expect a pregnant belly to look like. Catching herself staring, she sneered at her reflection and yank the pillow out, flinging it across the room to slid down the wall near the window.

"You're pathetic...been on a bender for three days and here you are pretending to be pregnant?"

Connor voice lashed across her still tender nerves and made her cry out. Spinning around, she tugged the hem of the t-shirt down. Connor stood in the doorway, arms braced on the frame around the door. He was scowling at her, his mouth twisted into an ugly sneer.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Abs...after your performance last night I doubt anyone would take you for mother of the year," his laugh flayed her and she cringed.

"Fuck off Connor. You weren't even there last night."

"No. But my phone has been running hot all day with text from your precious friends telling me what a performance you gave. What time did you roll in this morning?"

"What's that got to do with anything?...You don't care if I'm out all night. More often than not it's me who's waiting up for you. Nice to have things turned around for a change." She turned her back on him and rummaged for some knickers, feeling vulnerable despite the enveloping t-shirt.

"I care when my wife makes out with another man!"

Abby pulled up her underwear and sat down heavily on the side of the bed. "For God's sake Con, it was Bruce...he's gay."

Con checked what he was going to say next, then launched into another topic. "So what's all this I hear about you joining Greenpeace? How's that going to work with what we do?"

Abby rubbed at her forehead, her scalp so tight with her hangover she wanted to scream – quietly.

"Look, what's the problem here. I have three months leave...you could have had the same. I don't bug you about how you spend your down time, so why are you coming the heavy with me?"

"Because...urh!" Connor smacked his fist against the door frame and spun around, stomping off out of sight towards the kitchen. Abby stared after him and flopped back on the bed. She really wanted to do nothing more than crawl back into bed, but it was unlikely Connor would let her escape so easily. She rummaged in a drawer and found a pair of her old yoga pants, the fabric soft against her skin. Pushing her feet back into her slippers she padded out into the lounge, the temperature now warm enough to negate the need for a jumper. She went to the door of the kitchen and watched Connor bang about for a few seconds.

"What is up with you Con?" She folded her arms across her chest and leant against the door jamb. "We've hardly spoken in a week. I have wanted to ask you what you wanted to do about our anniversary coming up at the end of the week..."

"Do about it? You're off down the pub three nights in a row and you want to talk about wedding anniversaries?"

"Yes, yes, yes...I was down the pub, so what. You were invited too, you could have come along with me!"

"And talked about nothing but elephant crap, lion crap and lizard crap...sorry, I'll pass." He held up his hand dismissively. "Your friends are boring."

"Fine. Then you can't really complain when they want to take me out, can you."

"It wouldn't matter so much if you could hold your drink!"

"Look..." Abby passed a hand over her face and told herself to count to ten. "Look...I'm not going out tonight, or any other night. Jon is flying out this afternoon, and everyone else is back at work. I can only assume you're madder than a Scutosaurus because you have something planned."

"Yeah...about Jon," Connor gave her a hard stare, his arms mirroring hers, clamped across his chest.

"For heaven's sake...anyone would think you were..."

"Jealous? Do I have reason to be?"

"No...no reason."

Connor pushed himself away from the sink, as if to leave the room. At the last moment he saw a piece of paper on the kitchen table and reached for it, Abby saw it at the same time and made a grab for it. Connor got there first.

"Why does this have a police station listed on it?" He waved the slip in the air.

"I got a call this morning...there's a man at the station, but they can't identify him for some reason. He had my number in his pocket or something."

For a heartbeat Connor stood as still as a statue, then he slapped the paper back on the table with the flat of his hand. The crack of flesh on wood made Abby jump.

"Then you'd better scurry along and see who he is...maybe he's the one you were climbing all over on Saturday night and he wants to see you again. You must have made quite an impression for him to use the police to track you down!"

"Con that's stupid...where are you going?" He brushed past her, picking up his jacket and flinging it on before heading for the front door.

"Back to work. I had thought to have lunch at home...but I don't think I'll bother. I won't expect to find you home when I get back tonight."

The door slammed shut behind him and she winced. "Shit."

It was true she had been out for the past three nights. It had been just a case of all the buses coming at once. One of her friends from her days at the Zoo was going overseas so there was a farewell party planned and she was invited. Then there was the member of her team who was celebrating his recent Civil Union that weekend, so she was naturally invited to that, but there wasn't really an excuse for the last night. That had been entirely her choice to call up two of her girlfriends, who she hadn't gone out with in ages, and drag them all along to the nightclub just opened on the High Street. She had got blitzed, her headache was proof of that, and she had rolled in at some ungodly hour, so she guessed he had some grounds for being pissed off, but in her heart of hearts she knew it was more than that.

Maybe if she cooked his favourite meal and they had a chance to talk calmly about things they could get over this mountain obstructing their path. It was a faint hope, but she was in the mood to clutch at straws right now. Padding into the bathroom she popped a couple of panadol to dull the hangover and then returned to the kitchen to plan the meal.

In the middle of the kitchen table the small slip of paper sat forgotten for the moment.

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Abby slammed her hand against the steering wheel again, the sharp pain in her hand making her focus. She was driving on the M56 through Stockport on her way to Hollingsworth and she still felt angry, her blood fizzing and her knuckles turning white.

"How dare he? How bloody dare he?" She growled, resisting the urge to stomp on the accelerator and work out her anger on the car with excessive speed. As it was she was on the limit, blitzing past the lorries and vans traveling in the inner lanes. Her car was the one luxury she'd brought for herself, irrespective of Connor's wishes or personal choice. It was bright yellow and zippy, a Toyota MR2 Roadster convertible. It would have been nice if her budget had stretched to a Lotus, but she already had plans to trade up. In the meantime the MR2 would suffice.

She thumped the black leather steering wheel again and ground her teeth. So much for her plan for the previous evening. She had pulled out all the stops, doing her girl thing for Connor. There'd been candles and wine, garlic bread and croûtons. Even dessert. She'd sent him a text to make sure he wasn't late home, but apparently he was still in a snit over her nights out because he didn't appear until nearly midnight. When she taxed him about it, he merely snarled something about a rogue anomaly and stomped off to the shower.

After that is was all downhill. She was hurt, he was tired, they both were smoldering over past hurts and rejections. In all a volatile mixture that inevitably erupted. The next morning she was out the door and on the M6 before the birds were out of bed. Now the sun was well up and she was pulling into the outskirts of Hollingsworth looking for the local bobby shop.

Parking the car, she sat in it and just stared sightlessly out of the windscreen. Her stomach growled and she wondered if she should grab something to eat first, but chose instead to climb out the car and run up the few steps to the door of the Police station.

Inside she was greeted by the constable on the desk who asked her to take a seat while he notified the officer who had contacted her. Abby sat and looked about, the lobby plastered with posters and notices and a huge wall map of the local area. Butting as it did against the hills of the Peak District, she let her eyes wander over the geographical contours, the area largely unknown to her.

A door opened and she heard her name called.

"Abby Temple?"

The officer was tall and looked to be in his late thirties. Abby pinned a smile on her face and stood up.

"Sergent Hollis?"

"If you'd like to come this way?" He guided her to an office situated somewhere in the depth of the building. Once she was seated, he sat down and shuffled a few papers on his desk. Abby waited patiently for a second or two then opened her mouth.

"About this man you called me about?"

"Yes. I'm sorry you had the long drive from Birmingham, but we're in a bit of a bind."

Abby waited for him to continue. Hollis cleared his throat and looked her straight in the eye.

"We have been given a name by the man but we need you to reliably identify him."

"You said you found my name on a piece of paper?"

"Yes," he rummaged for a few seconds then produced a plastic bag, handing it over for Abby to see. The bag was marked with a big sticker saying 'evidence' with a date in black pen beside it. Abby peered at the writing on the lined note paper obviously torn from a spiral binder.

"I don't recognize the handwriting."

"Well you wouldn't, if this man's story is to be believed. But first things first, would you be so kind as to sign this form and then I'll take you to see him. We're use a two way mirror interview room so you can see him without him seeing you."

Abby paused in her reading of the form and looked up in some alarm. "Is he dangerous?"

"We don't think so, but you might be glad of having some distance when you see him."

Thoroughly intrigued, and not a little alarmed, Abby pushed over the signed form and got to her feet. Hollis led her out of his office and down the corridor to another room. It was darkened and had a window looking into a interview room set up with a table and chairs on the other side of the wall. Abby waited nervously while Hollis spoke quietly on a phone in the corner.

"They're just bringing him in now Mrs. Temple. Don't be afraid that he can see you, because he can't and this is very thick glass."

His reassurances only made her more nervous, Abby rubbing her hands against her jeans to wipe off the dampness. A second or two later the door to the room she was watching opened and a policeman entered, closely followed by a tall man, his wrists cuffed in front of him, another officer behind him.

Abby gripped the sill of the window, her eyes wide as she watched the man sit down at the table and look around the room.

"Mrs. Temple...do you recognize him?" Officer Hollis's voice seemed to come from a long way off, Abby's vision greying around the edges as she stared fixedly at the man sitting apparently relaxed and untroubled in the other room.

"It's...it's not possible..." Abby swallowed on a dry throat and turned to look at Officer Hollis. "This is some kind of...of...sick joke." She felt hot and cold at the same time, her hands tingling.

"Mrs. Temple? Are you alright?"

"I think...I think..." but her thoughts got no further than that, Hollis catching her as she slumped against the glass window, out cold.

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to be continued...


	2. It's just a jump to the left

Title: Time and Distance.

Chapter: Two – It's just a jump to the left

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: two years plus after the end of S2Ep7.

Pairing: Abby/Connor to start with, Abby/Stephen to end with.

Tagline: Abby reflects on her life...and is given a chance to press the reset button for herself.

Author's Note: What can I say? I couldn't keep away.

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Stephen chafed at the time passing. The cell was not uncomfortable, but it was still a police cell. It had been just his luck that the first vehicle he flagged down on that isolated stretch of road was one of the hill rangers. Given the state he was in, he was glad the man stopped at all. Until he reached the thin stretch of asphalt he hadn't been sure he'd made it back. Now he knew he had made it back, but not to the same point he started from.

He was not only out by several hundreds of miles, he was not in his own time. That alone would have been enough to worry about if he hadn't also been horribly sure that something had followed him through.

He shifted on the thin plastic mattress that constituted both his bed and the only piece of furniture in the room and had to draw in a sharp breath. His hand gravitated to his side, the bulky bandage under the borrowed t-shirt spongy as he pressed against it. It had been a close run thing and he could only hope that the wilds of the Peak District were wild enough to keep the creature from wreaking havoc among the populace before he could contact someone.

He suspected it might be from the pack of Pachyaena that had hunted him all the way back to the anomaly. Normally scavengers, he had frightened away their prey, so he ended up replacing it. Until he knew what time he was in, all information about the beast would have to await authorisation from someone higher up the food chain. Even his time had any number of reports about strange animals roaming the peaks and valleys, so another would hardly register on the radar. Still, he didn't like to leave a job half done, and once he had things sorted he would come back and track the animal.

He was surprised at how calmly he was taking the fact that he appeared to have been catapulted into a different time. It had always been a possibility from the first time an anomaly appeared, that one or the other of them ran the risk of being stranded in a time other than their own. It was why none of them formed lasting relationships outside the core staff based at the ARC. Life was too short and too dangerous to risk involving long term partners, and he had proved a past master of the short and sweet relationship game.

Nick and Helen had been the only couple to refuse to bow to the edict, siting their long history together and irreplaceable knowledge of the phenomenon known to the few as anomalies.

He wondered if they were together in this time. Given the volatile nature of their relationship in his, he wondered how they faired under different circumstances.

For now he just wanted to get the hell out of the cell. Standard procedure demanded he carry nothing to identify him with the secret organisation watching the backs of the Great British Public without their knowledge. Even he had been surprised when his trouser pocket had revealed the square of paper with Abby's name and number on it. He certainly didn't remember putting it there himself, and the rest of his pack had been safely hidden when he first sighted the road snaking through the hills. There was nothing on him to place his identity or association – he was on his own. He did remember Helen coming out of the locker room just before he went in, her expression as sly as ever, her hands brushing against him as he passed her in the doorway. He had been preparing to leave on this last mission, and barely glanced at her as he hurried away. Had she slipped the paper in his pocket? If so, to what point or purpose? He thought it unlikely that she could have engineered him getting separated from the group or him being hunted by the Pachyaena's. Helen was good, but not that good.

Admittedly she had been angling to get him kicked off the whole project after he'd repeatedly rebuffed her advances. Stephen had too much respect for Nick vile temper to involve himself in Helen's games. But he seriously doubted she could have created the set of circumstances to work out the way they did, it was just too fantastic.

But here he was, a long way from home, with a bit of paper in his pocket that would supposedly put him in the way of someone he hadn't seen or talked to in more than five years in his own time line, and probably didn't know him from Adam in this one.

Maybe Helen was just as clever as she thought she was. With Stephen lost to time, she would have a free hand to pick his successor. Stephen laughed out loud. Cunning bitch, she already had him picked out.

His introspection was interrupted by the door being opened with a loud rattle of keys on chains. He rose to his feet and held out his hands. He couldn't really fault the officers for wanting to restrain him in some way. He hadn't looked very prepossessing when brought to the station in his ripped and bloody top and mud caked pants. There was also the fact he hadn't been co-operative with name, rank or serial number as well. The cool metal and small click were ignored as he accepted the escort out of his cell and along the corridor. He jerked his head to get his hair out of his eyes, wondering briefly if he'd get breakfast before or after his interrogation.

The room he was ushered into had a large mirror set in to one wall, Stephen correctly interpreting this to mean he was being observed. Keeping his movements small and refraining from looking directly at the mirror he relaxed into the hard chair and rested his hand-cuffed hands on the table top. The two police that had brought him there stood behind and beside the door.

The minutes ticked by and he wondered if anything was going to happen. His borrowed clothes were ill-fitting at best, his bare feet cold against the linoleum flooring.

"Don't suppose hospitality could stretch to a cup of tea?"

He craned his head back to make eye contact with one of the officers, the two men exchanging a glance before the one by the door left, the sound of a key loud as he locked it behind him. Judging by the light coming through the high window to his left it was a fine morning. The clock on the wall marked the passage of time and he wondered how long he was expected to just sit and wait.

At length the door opened again and another man appeared, depositing a plastic cup of some steaming liquid in front of Stephen.

"Your tea."

"Cheers."

"So...Mr. Hart. Can you explain to me why you chose not to reveal your identity to my officers?"

Stephen sipped the scalding tea and took his time. Whoever had identified him was likely to be watching him from the other side of the glass. He carefully placed the cup back on the table.

"Let's just say it was on a need to know basis."

"Yes. I can understand why. You're supposed to be dead."

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Abby saw Stephen jerk in surprise when Hollis dropped that bombshell, his reactions appearing entirely natural. She couldn't take her eyes off him, noting the longer hair and sideburns, the beefed up body under the shapeless t-shirt, his impossibly blue eyes currently narrowed and focused on Hollis.

"Dead?"

Hollis placed the folder he'd had tucked under his arm on the table top. " The fourth of March, two thousand and seven to be precise. Two years ago."

Abby saw Stephen's eyes widen until she almost swore she could see the whites. That had shocked him badly. He recovered and reached to take another swig of his tea, his hand not quite steady as he raised the drink to his mouth, his eyes flicking up to meet hers through the mirrored window. She took a step back at the force of their impact. Whoever he thought was watching him, he certainly didn't think them his friend.

"How?"

"Classified according to my records. Care to tell us why that would be?"

Abby saw when the shutters came down on his face, his shoulders rising in a negligent shrug as he gave a small smile. "Sorry."

Abby chewed absently on her thumbnail, torn between wanting to run into the room and throw her arms about him, and run just as equally fast out of the building and never return. Her reaction to seeing him had been both embarrassing and revealing, her faint only lasting until Hollis waved something acrid under her nose and brought her back. He'd been sympathetic but also wary. Only when she seemed able to stand on her own two feet did he leave her to interview Stephen.

Hollis was speaking again. "Apart from a possible charge of vagrancy, there's nothing to hold you on Mr. Hart."

Giving the officer a smile that didn't come close to reaching his eyes, Stephen held up his wrists to allow his escort to unlock them, massaging them briefly before folding his arms across his chest.

"Then I'm free to go?" Again Stephen glanced at the mirror window and Abby was almost convinced he could see her through it.

"Someone has arrived to collect you, so yes, you are free to go."

Stephen stood up, uncoiling like a dangerous predator to his full height. Abby could see both officers go on their guard, only relaxing when Stephen showed no hint of causing trouble.

Abby waited as Hollis had told her to, until Stephen was taken to the entrance hall. Hollis had suggested she meet Stephen there, where there were enough police to ensure her safety if anything went wrong. Abby had thought it all rather melodramatic on Hollis's part, but after seeing the way Stephen moved, she realised that Hollis had his reasons. This was a man to be wary of.

Hollis duly appeared and ushered her down the corridor and through the last door until she was at last standing in the same room with Stephen, flanked on each side by police officers.

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Stephen smiled to himself at the exaggerated care the man Hollis was taking with him. He tried to appear as relaxed and harmless as possible, but it obviously wasn't enough to entirely allay the fears of anyone. Hollis appeared ushering in a woman who it took him a few seconds to recognise as Abby.

She seemed to be having the same problem, not moving any further towards him, her wide blue eyes startled and wary. He didn't move, just keeping his posture as relaxed and calm as possible, keeping his gaze neutral and his hands in plain sight. It had the desired result when he saw her shoulders lower a fraction.

"Hey Abs...long time no see?" Using his best bedroom voice, he spoke directly to her, pitching his voice for her ears only.

He ignored the men standing around him and walked the few steps to bring him close to her. Abby remained transfixed, her eyes a blue as the sky, her head tilting back as he stepped to within a breath of her. Giving her a bone melting smirk he raised one dark eyebrow before leaning down and capturing her lips with his, hearing the faint indrawn gasps of the men watching even as he pulled away. Abby didn't move other than to lift her hand and press it to her mouth.

"Are you happy for me to release this man into your custody Mrs. Temple?"

Stephen felt a pang realising that in this time she had gone and married the geek, which made what he'd just done possibly the worst mistake of his life.

"Not a problem Sergeant Hollis...I'll sign any release forms you need completed." Abby marveled that she managed to keep her voice steady in the face of what had just happened. Dragging her eyes away from Stephen's hypnotic gaze, she stepped around him to the front desk, Hollis at her heels. She signed whatever paperwork was placed in front of her then fished in her pocket for her car keys.

"Might I suggest next time, Mr. Hart, that you cultivate a more co-operative frame of mind, otherwise you might find yourself spending more time than comfortable in a cell in the future."

"There won't be a next time." Stephen replied, giving the man a smug smile before following Abby out of the station, the sun hitting him like a hammer, the concrete steps rough against his bare feet.

They were approaching a sporty yellow car and he whistled appreciatively. "Nice Abs...a step up from the mini."

"Abby, my name is Abby." Unlocking the drivers side she slid in, Stephen coiling his long length into the passenger seat without a murmur.

She sat there, clutching the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, just staring out of the windscreen. It was only when his warm hand covered hers, making her jerk in surprise, that she came back to herself and turned to look at him.

Stephen looked back, his eyes roaming over her features, a smile playing over his mouth making the dimples either side appear.

"Love the car...hate the new hair do."

"You need a bath," she retorted. "How has this happened?"

"You mean how am I here when apparently I'm dead? Use your considerable intelligence Abs...sorry, Abby. Twenty four hours ago I came through an anomaly that deposited me in the Peak District several hundred miles from where I stepped into one. Not only that...I'm several years out of sync and in the wrong time line." He waited for her to respond, when she didn't he spoke again, this time in a seductive tone that set her skin tingling. "What? No - sorry you're not dead Stephen? I've missed you Stephen? Why did you kiss me Stephen?"

"Yeah. Why did you do that?" Abby found her tongue at last, only to be angry at herself for asking. He was too close to her, his physical presence filling her small car and making her light headed. The Stephen she had known had always carried himself with an unconscious grace, having a natural animal attraction that he exuded without any effort, and seemed unaware its effect on the people around him. This man was quite a different species, well aware of the effect he had on women and unafraid to use it to his advantage. It was overpowering to have him focused on her, his thickly fringed eyes unfathomable while his gaze seemed to strip her of all her secrets. She nervously ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, his eyes following that small movement, his smile widening.

"Because I wanted to find out if you tasted as sweet as you looked."

"I'm married."

"I noticed. How is Connor? Still fighting the good fight between Spiderman and Wolverine?"

"He gave up his comics some time ago..." Abby replied, twisting to face him and finding him disturbingly close. "We're happily married...have been for two years now."

"You don't look happy..and I don't remember you slapping me when I kissed you."

"You took me by surprise...why are you tormenting me like this?"

"I suspect you had something going on with the Stephen in your time..."

"Your wrong!" Abby interrupted quickly, "I never...we never...he was in love with Nick's wife...Helen Cutter."

Stephen pulled back and gave her a quizzical look. "With Helen? Stupid bastard...she'd have eaten him up and left few remains. How did Nick react?"

"Not well...look, we should get going..." she reached to turn the ignition but he stopped her.

"Where is Nick? Is he still with the project...the ARC?"

"Yes. But not here...not in England. We had our first off shore anomaly and he's gone to investigate."

"Damn." Now it was Stephen's turn to stare blindly out the windscreen. Abby felt relieved he was no longer focused on her. He made her feel uncomfortable but also intrigued, her skin prickling with the sensation. Nervously she played with the rings on her finger, drawing his attention so that he captured her fidgeting hand and drew it closer to inspect her engagement and wedding band.

"Sweet. Insipid but sweet. Do you love him?" He was invading her personal space again and she felt trapped, breathless and excited all at the same time. This was the Stephen she had always suspected was hidden from public view behind his aloof exterior and cool confidence. This Stephen was a predator and knew exactly how to stalk his intended prey.

"I married him." She replied, wondering where all the oxygen had gone.

"Not the right answer Abby..."

He was going to kiss her again, she was sure of it, her eyes sliding shut to block her view of his unrelenting advance. Her heart was hammering against her rib cage and she was almost panting. When nothing happened she cracked an eyelid and found him back on his side of the gear stick, his hand pressed to his side. He was sitting with his head thrown back against the head rest, his mouth compressed into a thin line.

"Are you in pain?" The question struck her as stupid even as she said it, but her brain seemed to have taken a vacation along with her wits.

Stephen turned his head and grinned at her. "Just a flesh wound...nothing a good antibiotic and a fresh bandage won't cure." He turned away from her, his hand staying pressed against his t-shirt, now outlining the bandaging already there. "A good nights rest and a meal wouldn't go amiss either."

This was something she could deal with, something she had experience of. "It's too far for us to drive back to Birmingham in the condition you're in. I'll find a motel and we'll take it from there."

"That's my girl...you always were good at thinking on your feet."

"Shut up...just shut the hell up will you?" She started the car and pulled out of the car park, already running her options through in her mind while her eyes searched for a likely hotel or motel to spend the night. Stephen seemed to take her words to heart and never uttered a sound after the car started moving. He sat with his eyes closed, his head back on the head rest, apparently dead to the world.

Abby darted concerned glances his way between concentrating on the late morning traffic and looking for signs leading to somewhere to stay. She eventually saw a sign directing them to a place called, whimsically, Windy Harbour Farm Hotel in Glossop, the next town over from Hollingsworth. Following the helpful signage she soon pulled up to an imposing grey brick two story farmhouse that looked as solid as the peaks providing the dramatic backdrop.

"We're here," she announced, rousing Stephen who peered narrowed eyed at the less than luxurious looking accommodation.

"And here is?" he queried, shooting her a glance with one of his infernal eyebrows almost disappearing under his overlong fringe.

"Somewhere for you to get a meal and a bath while I go shopping." She raised both her eyebrows and gave him the once over, taking in his less than new clothes and bare feet.

"Point taken."

They got out of the car and traipsed inside, the lady of the house putting on a brave face and ignoring Stephen's state, directing him up the stairs to a roomy suite facing out onto the car park. Abby filled in all the paperwork, producing her work credit card to pay for it all.

"There's an en suite," explained the landlady, handing Abby a stack of gaily striped towels, "and complementary soap and shampoo for your young man."

Abby ignored her and stomped up the stairs. She found Stephen in the bathroom, already stripped to the waist and inspecting the dressing covering his ribs. Abby dumped the towels beside the bath before turning to watch. Stephen carried on as if she wasn't there, peeling away the layers of gauze and padding to reveal several deep and nasty looking claw marks gouged into his flesh.

"Ouch," Abby remarked, wincing when he pulled the last of the tape off, leaving behind red welts. Stephen stood up and twisted his torso to better see the injury in the mirror. With his back to her, Abby could admire the length of his spine and the play of muscles across his broad shoulders brushed by his overlong mane. The sweat pants had been pushed down to rest on his hips, baring a great expanse of lightly tanned skin above his backside. Abby was so absorbed she didn't notice that Stephen was watching her via her reflection in the mirror.

"You said something about going shopping?" He made sure he was looking elsewhere when she finally came back to earth, his question jolting her out of her absorption.

"Yes. What do you need?" She pulled out a pad and pen from her small sling bag and prepared to make a list.

"Fresh gauze, antiseptic cream, bandages, tape..." he listed everything he could think off, reeling off his sizes for the clothes and including a shaving kit and toothbrush at the end. "I think that's everything."

"Are you sure?" Abby asked, looking somewhat askance at the two pages his list comprised. "I'm sure there's something you left off...a kitchen sink maybe?"

"Depends on how long we're staying here and how close you want to get." He waggled his eyebrows and made to remove the last item of his clothing, hooking his thumbs in the elastic waistband of his pants and preparing to push them down.

Abby glared at him and spun on her heel, leaving him laughing quietly at her rapidly retreating back.

"I'll be back in an hour or so. Try not to wander off." She shot over her shoulder before shutting the suite door behind her.

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Abby ticked off the last item on her list and sat back, well satisfied with her mornings work.

She really would have liked to take time out for a cappuccino and a croissant, but the thought of Stephen wandering around the hotel in a towel and probably giving the landlady a minor coronary, spurred her to ignore her rumbling stomach and hit the gas pedal instead.

Pulling into the car park of the Windy Harbour Farm Hotel she glanced up at the blank windows, looking for the one belonging to his suite. She chided herself crossly for doing so, and worse for feeling a pang that he wasn't at the window looking for her return.

Hoisting the numerous bags out of the car, she kicked the door shut and staggered across the forecourt into the foyer. There she was greeted by a man who presented himself as the landlord, and who offered to help her with her multiple purchases.

"You must have brought up all of Hollingsworth!"

"Nearly." Abby replied, puffing as she negotiated the stairs. Outside the suite she thanked the landlord and waited for him to disappear back downstairs before softly knocking on the door. Getting no reply she eased the handle, finding it noiseless along with the hinges. Peering around the door she scanned the room, her eyes falling on the figure sprawled across the double bed.

"He must have found the smallest bloody towel to dry himself with...God, was ever a woman made to suffer..." she muttered to herself. As quietly as she could, she brought in all her purchases and set them down on the carpet. Stephen didn't stir, his chest rising and falling in a regular fashion, one arm draped over his middle while the other lay palm up beside his head on the pillow. He hadn't pulled the covers over himself and just lay there, left leg bent at the knee, left foot trapped under his outstretched right leg. The towel barely covered him decently and Abby tried manfully to ignore the display of brawn spread out on the deep blue bed cover.

"I'm a married woman and he means nothing to me...nothing at all...I'm a married woman...oh God...Connor!" Belatedly remembering her husband, Abby shut herself in the bathroom and pulled out her cell phone. Sitting on the stool she rubbed at the condensation fogging the mirror. Catching sight of herself she pulled a face and tried to bring some order to her disordered hair, scrunching it by the handful to give it some volume. The cell phone continued to ring in her ear until it switched to Connor's mail box and requested she leave a message.

"Connor...I'm staying in Glossop overnight. Something important has come up, will call you later and let you know the details..." she hesitated whether to sign off with 'I love you' and eventually decided not to, "okay...bye..er..call you later."

She snapped the phone shut and sat there on the stool, staring off into space, her mind chasing its tail as she tried to decide what she was going to do next. Should she phone the ARC and speak to Jenny Lewis? The woman was a brilliant PR guru and knew a hundred and one ways to deal with awkward situations. Having a man return from the dead two years after he died was possibly not covered under her usual rubric, but then neither were dealing with creatures from different periods in Earths primeval history. On the other hand should she go over Jenny's head and speak to Sir James Lester? She had to suppress a shudder at the likely outcome of that conversation. Given the cloud that their Stephen had been under and the circumstances surrounding his death, his return was unlikely to be greeted with much warmth, even if he wasn't the same man. He had Stephen's face and body and obviously knew himself as Stephen Hart...and despite having bulked up in the muscle department he still sounded the same even if he didn't quite behave the way Stephen used to.

And anyway...surely this Stephen would want to be on the first anomaly out of this time, and not stay any longer than he had too. He would have people missing him in his own time...maybe he had a wife or girlfriend wondering what happened to him. Maybe he had children?

It was pointless to speculate further so she decided to leave matters for the moment unresolved. She was on official leave and just maybe it would be better for them to remain in the local area, in case the anomaly appeared again and he had the opportunity to return through it. Her immediate decision made, she got up off the stool and went over to the door that led into the next room. The bathroom was a shared en suite between the two adjoining bedrooms, Abby's practically a twin of Stephens in the furniture and décor but a smidgen smaller with a sloping roof and a gable window that looked out over the back of the farmhouse.

She now thanked her foresight in packing an overnight bag. She hadn't consciously decided to stay overnight, but having been caught out before with sudden trips away on ARC business, she now went everywhere prepared for practically anything. It was still down in the boot of the car so she left by her own room door and went to fetch it.

When she returned she decided that a freshen up wouldn't go amiss. She didn't know how long Stephen would sleep but had booked a table for two for the evening meal regardless. The landlady had already offered to send something up on a tray when Abby told her Stephen was asleep, the good lady extolling her that is was no trouble to do so, whatever time he awoke.

She splashed her face with water and washed her hands, using one of the remaining dry towels to pat her face dry. Damp towels were scattered over the bathroom floor and she swore under her breath about males and their messy habits while she picked them up and deposited them into the hamper left for that purpose. Deciding that there was no more to be done, she couldn't resist peeping into Stephen's room to check up on him. Her reward for such diligence was to find that he'd shifted onto his stomach and lost the towel entirely in the process.

She felt her heart start up an unsteady beat, her breath suddenly strangled in her throat. She'd known he was a man with an attractive physique under his clothes, but the most skin she'd seen of the previous incarnation had been his face and arms, never in all his unadorned glory from his neck to his toes. She stood there frozen in the doorway, unable to tear her gaze away from the long line of his back leading to the the narrow hips above rounded buttocks and tapering legs that went on forever down to capable sized feet. She lost track of time until the distant sound of knocking roused her and she fled, reaching her own room and shutting the connecting door with a bang, her face burning with embarrassment and something horribly close to outright lust.

Hurrying over to her door she yanked it open to find herself facing the landlord. He peered at her flushed countenance and changed tack from what he'd been about to say.

"Are you alright miss? You look a rather funny colour?"

"What? Oh...ah..." Abby patted her face, wishing the burning heat to subside. "It's just...um...I was about to have a shower and turned the tap on a bit hot," she grinned sheepishly and hoped the man accepted her excuse and ignore the fact she was still fully clothed.

"Well if you're sure," he waited for her to smile and nod vacuously before continuing. "I just wanted to let you know that dinner is served at seven-o-clock with guests seated at six to enjoy drinks at the bar if desired. We have a full complement of wines and spirits, as well as a selection of local brews to tempt the palate."

"Thank you...I look forward to that."

"If you'd like, we also serve afternoon tea at three thirty, if you're feeling a little peckish."

"Thank you...I'll remember that."

"Right then...I'll leave you to have your shower. Do you need any extra towels?"

She gritted her teeth, her smile starting to feel fixed on her face.

"No thank you. Bye." She shut the door when he turned away, leaning her head against it and feeling exhausted.

This was no way for a sane, two year married woman to behave. It wasn't as if she'd never seen a naked male before. Her own anomaly team sported a couple of male members who could give Stephen a run for his money in the looks and body department. And there was Connor...

She groaned. Maybe she should take that shower and make it a cold one.

Instead she wandered over to the window seat and sat gazing over the verdant green farmland that stretched as far as the eye could see, back by the rising hills that formed the backdrop to the district. Absently she repeatedly twirled the two rings on her left hand, playing with the warm metal until she heard movement in the adjoining bathroom.

Stephen would appear to have woken up.

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to be continued...


	3. And then a step to the right

11/4/08

Title: Time and Distance

Chapter: Three – And then a step to the right

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: Two years plus after S2Ep7.

Pairing: Abby/Connor then Abby/Stephen

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Stephen glanced narrowly at his dinner partner and wondered what was going on in her raggedly shorn head. He had seen it when he'd appeared in the clothes she'd purchased for him. It was in the tight lipped excuse for a smile she used to acknowledge him as if he was a judiciary panel and she was up for review. He wanted to tell her she didn't have anything to fear from him. Especially when she persisted in fidgeting with her wedding ring.

He'd got the message. She was married. To Connor. Hands off.

He could respect that.

Didn't mean he couldn't have some fun with it as well. The Abby he'd known in his time had taken his teasing and flirting and flung it back at him in spades, their no holds barred sparring the talk of the ARC. But it never went beyond that, it was an unwritten rule. He never found out, right up to and beyond the day she left, why she was against their relationship going further, and he didn't pursue it. Her time at the ARC had been brief, little more than a year, but it had been made more fun with their banter to look forward to each day. He'd missed that, missed her. She'd been a gutsy kid and won his respect and, if he ever chose to unlock the darkest secrets of his tightly restrained heart one day, he'd admit she won his love as well. He was pretty sure that Helen had a hand in why she left, but he still couldn't be sure, even now. Life after that had become too hectic, too dangerous and he'd let her slide out of his life, let her get on with her own.

It had broken Connor's heart, poor bastard. Abby had taken him into her home, into her life, even, he suspected, into her bed but never into her heart and he suffered for weeks after she left to start a life elsewhere. He'd turned against Stephen to, for a while, the two former close buddies existing in a frozen friendship, civil yet cold. It was fortunate it hadn't stayed that way for long, because it would have been sad if Connor had died without knowing that Stephen cared for him as a mate, as his back up and best friend.

Stephen missed him too. But that had been the last person he'd invested his heart and soul into. After that he was focused on the job, on the mission, on the next incursion, the next creature to track and kill. No one got under his skin anymore, no one got close enough to make him care.

Now fate had thrown her into his path again, this time beyond his reach by being married to Connor. He wondered how that was working out.

"So Abs...sorry, Abby...how is life for you and Connor...any kids?"

Abby blinked at him, pulling herself back from whatever thoughts she'd been dwelling on.

"Er...no. No kids."

"Want some?"

"I suppose...maybe later."

"You should."

Abby frowned at him. "Should what?"

Stephen paused in cutting a slice off his steak. "Have kids. You'd be great with them."

"I would?"

"Earth to Abby...you've been spaced out ever since we sat down."

Abby rubbed at her forehead. "Sorry...just a bit tired."

"Sure." He resumed his attack on the prime piece of dead cow.

Abby watched him for a few beats, noting how his jaw moved when he chewed, how his throat worked when he swallowed, the movement drawing her eyes to the triangle of soft hairs visible at the neckline of the shirt he was wearing. Earth to Abby indeed, this was becoming obsessive. Dragging her eyes down to her own plate she wrinkled her nose at the harmless chop waiting for her to eat it. Suddenly queasy she pushed her plate fractionally away from her and propped her elbows on the table. Stephen paused again in his eating to fix his interested blue gaze on her.

"Not hungry?"

"No appetite these days. But don't mind me, please, carry on."

She watched him demolish the rest of his meal leaving little on the plate. She envied him his healthy appreciation of good food. Recently it had had little appeal for her, good, bad or otherwise. She'd put it down to stress from her job and the emotional turmoil of her relationship with Connor.

"On a diet? Because you really don't need to be," Stephen asked conversationally, taking a swig from his bottle of beer and ignoring the unused glass at his elbow.

Abby squirmed, not knowing how to answer. This wasn't a date, and he wasn't making a compliment. She stared down at her plate and wondered if it was too soon to go to bed. The clock on the mantle chose that moment to musically chime the hour reminding her it was only just past eight-o-clock. As if reading her mind Stephen leant forward and spoke.

"Can't run away yet Abby...there's so much I want to know about...your time."

She felt her jaw tighten with annoyance. Sure, she'd flirted with their Stephen, just a little in the past, not at all after the revelation of his affair with Helen. But never to the level this man was taking it.

"Why are you doing this?" She stopped trying to avoid meeting his eyes and glared at him. "What perverse pleasure does it give you to tease me like this? Just what sort of relationship do you have with the Abby in your time, I'm curious?"

Stephen let the flirtation smirk fall from his face. His answer to her angry question surprising the hell out of him as much as it did her.

"I loved her."

His softly spoken reply hung in the air between them. In his head Stephen cursed whatever gremlin had chosen that moment to take control of his tongue and blurt out the truth he normally kept so closely guarded and locked away. He dropped his gaze to the bottle in his hand, his fingers twirling it around as he scrabbled mentally for something to say to repair the damage.

Abby remained silent, shocked into that state by his bald declaration. There could have been a million ways he might have answered her rude inquiry, and any one of them would have satisfied her. Instead he chose the one answer she couldn't ignore or brush off, and worse, she knew he was telling the truth.

"I have to...there's a phone call...sorry."

Stephen watched her practically run out of the dining room and cursed under his breath. The landlady trotted over and tutted to see his plate empty and Abby's almost untouched.

"Was the meal alright?"

"Lovely...Abby just didn't have much of an appetite tonight. No offense to the cook." He turned on the charm and the woman simpered, appeased. After she left with the dishes, he sat there finishing off another beer and contemplated how well and truly he'd fucked things up.

He ignored the other guests in the room, lounging back in his chair, for once not anticipating the creature lurking in the shadows, or the specter of Helen looking to bail him up. Several of the women in the room eyed the lanky newcomer with sleep messed hair and his brooding expression and wondered why he reminded them of a resting tiger or some other big cat just waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse.

When the room started to empty, he rose to his feet and left along with them, avoiding the door leading to the bar room with its raised voices, canned music and click of the billiard table. Instead he headed towards the back door, to the outside, the night cold and clear, stars bright as diamonds overhead.

He felt like howling, of taking off for a long run, of letting the ice cold air seer and burn his lungs until he could hardly breath and then wash him clean as only the cold can, until he could feel again without constraint, without pain.

Why on earth had he said that? What was it about this woman child that no matter what time she was in, she had the power to strip him bare and tug at his most primitive desires to protect and cherish, while at the same time drag out the caveman in him. He wanted to make her smile, and blush and gasp, preferably in that order. He wanted her looking at him with those huge baby blues in love not derision, not with fear. He figured it was fates joke on him that she either left or was already spoken for, out of his reach.

He scuffed at the grass and shivered. Stuffing his hands into his trouser pockets he turned and re-entered the hotel. No point in getting frost bite when there was a perfectly good fire in the bar to warm him.

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Abby sat cross-legged on her bed and stared at the small screen of her phone. She'd left another message for Connor on his voice mail when he didn't pick up, then tried the land line. It rang and rang until the answer phone kicked in, her own voice telling her she wasn't home. Frustrated, she phoned her house service and requested they go in to check on the place and feed her pets. It was a regular request and she knew she could trust them to take care of it for her. Her immediate concerns assuaged, she now sat staring at the empty inbox on her phone and wondered what Connor was doing.

Probably at work, maybe out with a mate, at a stretch paying for the services of a prostitute. The last thought depressed the hell out of her, despite knowing full well it was only sex. His strange need to push that boundary had shocked her to the root of her being when he'd told her about his past associations. She hadn't known how to deal with knowing her husband wanted, or more precisely needed, a walk on the wild side once in a while. He tried to explain, but it was beyond her ability to comprehend, so they decided between them that she would pretend and he'd be discreet. She should have realized then it was not a healthy decision to make. She almost laughed out loud when she thought of Stephen asking if she had a kid. What sort of person would she be to bring a life into the world when her own world was so skewed and off kilter? What sort of wife turned a blind eye to her new husband having a regular date with a call girl called Rainbow Aurora one night every month to have his backside paddled like a toddler?

Guess that's all part of getting to know the man you married.

She wasn't a prude, or close minded, but it took a bit of getting your head around.

She'd thought she was being radical wearing her doc martins and having multiple piercings, dressing with flair, painting her nails orange and having reptiles for pets. Just goes to show how wrong you can be when all that was considered positively staid compared to some people's idea of 'out there'.

She wondered what Stephen would say if he knew? The feel of wetness on her cheek surprised her. Brushing her hand over her face it came away wet, Abby crying without realizing it.

The worst part was that if she was honest with herself, she really would like a kid...someday... with someone not so messed up, with someone not likely to be trampled by a rampaging prehistoric reptile with a taste for meat. It was all true. She, Abby Temple nee Maitland, known affectionately by a few as the Lizard girl, and more often than not as plain Abby, thought the idea of having a kid of her own was not such a bad idea at all. It was just that her timing wasn't the best, that was all.

And her choice in life partners wasn't shit hot either.

Leaning forward, still cross legged, so that her head touched the bed spread in a feat of flexibility that would have left most women green with envy, Abby curled in on herself, giving in to a wave of emotion that had been building up for days. She wept. For Connor, for their marriage and just because it had been so damn long since she'd allowed herself the luxury of giving in to her feelings.

She lost track of time, the tears giving way to dry sobs, her body slowly uncoiling from its hedgehog like position into a more fetal curl, her knees pulled up to her chest. At length the sobs lessened to occasional hitches, her face stiff and sticky, but by now she was too worn out to care. She heard doors opening and shutting but paid little heed to the sounds of the hotel guests settling down for the night. Her phone still lay open on the bed beside her, the feeble light only illuminating the patch of material underneath it. Reaching out a hand she flipped the phone shut, the last shred of light in the room snuffed out. She knew she ought to move, ought to get changed into her night clothes, should probably wash her face, but couldn't dredge up the energy to do any of those things.

She probably should see if Stephen had returned to his room, but that only conjured up the image of him earlier in the day, sprawled asleep on his bed without a stitch on, an image that she had fought manfully to dispel and bury under her mountain of misery.

She hadn't been very successful on that particular score.

Thinking about Stephen brought with it a whole slew of feelings she wasn't remotely capable of dealing with on top of everything else.

She heard someone coming down the corridor outside her room and immediately froze, every muscle tense as the person, or persons paused a moment by her door. Then they moved on and she heard the bang of the door to the suite open and shut, followed by much thumping and to her horror she heard a high pitched giggle that couldn't have possibly come from Stephen.

All thoughts of sleep and weariness vanished as she scooted to the head of her bed that butted up against the wall to his room. Shamelessly pressing her ear to the wall she held her breath, her heart thumping in her chest. Again she heard a high pitched squeal as if someone had been tickled, a shiver running down her arms as she pictured what might be going on in the next room.

Incensed, but not entirely understanding why, Abby almost flung herself off the bed and stomped over to the door leading to the shared bathroom. The light wasn't on so she cracked the door and peered into the room, a faint glow from a security light outside casting enough through the windows to allow her to tiptoe across the cold floor to his door where she once again pressed her ear to the woodwork. She could hear voices, his voice indistinct like a low rumble and the other, a female and silly sounding, another loud giggle making her wince and pull away from the door panel.

Belatedly she realized how stupid it was to be skulking in the bathroom. She should have put the light on to announce she was in there and remind him he wasn't in the hotel alone. Except that he was, because despite her presence, he wasn't with her, Abby, in the way that it looked. But he was in the hotel courtesy of the ARC business card, and he was injured, for God's sake. She took a step back to return to her own room but froze when the door was flung open and Stephen stood framed in the doorway.

Neither moved for a heartbeat, then Stephen flung a quick look over his shoulder before hurriedly stepping inside the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

"What the hell are you doing sneaking around in here?" he kept his voice at a whisper, not bothering to put the light on for the moment.

"I'm not sneaking!" Abby hissed, her fright at being found out rapidly turning into anger. "I could ask you the same bloody question...what the hell do you think you are doing...in there?"

"About to have several hours of sex and debauchery with a bar maid...what do you think I'm doing?"

He suddenly flipped on the light, blinding Abby who flung up her hands to shield her eyes from the glare.

"Shit that's bright!" She blinked rapidly to clear the spots from her eyes and found herself staring at his half unbuttoned shirt and an expanse of tanned flesh sprinkled with dark hairs. Abby gulped and took a step back, her hip hitting the sink edge, making her yelp.

"Everything alright in there love?" the barmaids nasally voice floated through the door and they exchanged a startled look before Stephen reached over and flipped the lock.

"Everything's fine...won't be a tick." Stephen called back, his eyes on Abby.

He was in her face, too close for comfort. His eyes roving over her features and missing nothing.

"You've been crying."

"No I haven't...what is a barmaid doing in your room?"

"I told you...or are you deaf in the dark?"

"You can't do that...this room is being paid for by the government!"

"All the more reason to make sure I get value for money," he smirked and she felt an urge to slap him. "Why were you crying?"

"None of your damn business... and I wasn't."

"Liar." He reached up with a gentle thumb and smooth the puffy skin around her eyes. "Your nose is red."

She slapped his hand away and scowled furiously up at him. "You can't do that, you can't have sex in that room!"

He looked at her incredulously, his mouth pulling up into a wide grin. "What are you, the sex police? Who said I can't have my wicked way with whoever I like?"

"I did...and anyway...you're injured. How have you explained that to Bessy the barmaid in there?"

He smiled down at her, his eyes twinkling unashamedly. "I told her I got it taking a tumble off a motorbike." Taking advantage of her inattention he reached up again and stroked his thumb over her cheek, the tracks of her previous tears visible on the skin. "Tell me why you were crying?"

"I wasn't crying...I stubbed my toe, that's all." She had to strongly resist the urge to lean into his hand against her cheek. "Stop doing that."

"Why are you lying to me Abby? Was it something I said...that crack about kids...did that upset you?"

"No...no, of course it didn't...I'm just tired..." She had stopped scowling, her anger melting away, no match for the heat radiating off him through the thin shirt. "Just tired, that's all."

"Then why don't you go to bed...I'd be happy to tuck you in." He had lowered his head until his lips were just beside her ear, his words slipping softly into her brain like liquid chocolate, all sweetness and guile.

Somehow her hands had come up to push him away, flattening against the planes of his chest, the tips curling to bunch the material and pull the edges further apart to reveal more of his bare skin.

"Who the fuck is that?!"

Abby jumped, but hemmed in as she was, she couldn't move other than to peer around Stephen's bulk to the half dressed irate female figure standing with one hand on her hip in the bathroom doorway.

"I thought you locked the door?" Abby whispered, glancing up into Stephen's face.

"I thought I did too," he whispered back, his lashes lowering to hide his expression. "Don't run away," he told her before smoothly turning around to face his erstwhile bedmate for the night.

"Bessy..." Stephen started, only to be interrupted.

"The name's Bella...and I asked you who the fuck is she?" Bella was not pleased. Abby cowered behind Stephen's back and wished herself anywhere but where she was.

"She's a friend, and I'm afraid we'll have to call it a night Bella..."

"But I thought...we were...you were..." Bella looked almost comically crestfallen, her arms folding belligerently across her ample chest.

"We were, but we're now we're not. Sorry." Stephen remained where he was, shielding Abby from view.

"Bastard. Talk about lead a girl on...I suppose next you'll tell me your gay!" In high dudgeon, Bella flounced out and snatched up her clothes before leaving the suite, slamming the door behind her.

Stephen waited for the reverberations to die away before slowly turning to face Abby.

"You alright?"

Abby nodded, her cheeks scarlet with embarrassment. She heard something chiming and couldn't place the sound for a second or two, then the penny dropped.

"That's my phone!" She hurried past Stephen who stepped back to let her pass, his eyes following her as she ran to her room to take the call, leaving the connecting door open.

Without a hint of guilt about listening in, Stephen quietly leant against the wall by her door and  
eavesdropped on her side of the conversation.

"Connor, at last...I left so many messages...no, I won't be home tonight...what's that supposed to mean?"

Stephen heard the hurt in her voice laced with anger, and wanted to shake Connor. He knew perfectly well who she'd been crying over and he wished he had the right to make it better for her. Abby was talking again and he concentrated to hear her quiet voice.

"I told you, I'm in Glossop...yes I went to the police station...why would I make that up? You saw the note...of course I met the man, but...I can't tell you right now...Connor...oh that's a stupid thing to say...no, of course I'm not saying your stupid...because it's not any of your business to know who he is...you're being ridiculous, Con please...that's not fair, I think I've been more than reasonable about her...I don't think that, I'm just saying...stop shouting at me..."

Stephen could hear, even from his distance, Connor's voice on the mobile.

"Connor please, we'll talk about this when I get home...I don't know yet...it's not that simple...what do you mean, don't bother?!"

It went silent and Stephen held his breath, hoping against hope he wouldn't hear what he expected to hear next. There was the faintest snap of the phone being shut and then nothing. He waited, time sliding past, his ears straining to hear what was happening in the darkened room. At length his patience was rewarded, but not in the way he wanted it to be. One hitching sob was enough to drag him into the bedroom and over to the bed where Abby sat still clutching the phone.

He prised it from her fingers and put it on the bedside table. With the light from the bathroom he could see she was crying again, tears tracking down her face from eyes that just stared blindly into the darkness.

Keeping his touch entirely impersonal, Stephen guided her, like a sleep walker, under the covers after pulling them back, his hand cradling her head to lay it on the pillows, fingers smoothing back her hair from her hot face.

Her very acceptance of his ministrations told him far more than he needed to know about her state of mind and emotions.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked her, crouching down at the side of the bed so that his face was on the same level as her, the light from the bathroom allowing her to see him clearly. Her eyes were open but unfocused, he doubted if she truly saw him.

"I don't want to ask..."

"You don't have to ask, just nod your head if you do."

He watched her head nod slowly against the pillows, her eyes sliding shut as if to blot out the world.

Getting to his feet he padded through to his room and changed into a t-shirt and sweat pants to sleep in, snagging a couple more pillows to pad out the armchair he'd be spending the night in. Locking his door he went back into the bathroom and switched off the light. Like a cat he found his way into her room and dumped his bedding before pulling the chair over to the bed, into her line of sight if she opened her eyes. Making his sleeping arrangements at comfortable as possible, he left the chair to check on her, crouching down again beside the bed.

Abby lay as he'd left her, her eyes closed, her face still wet. He reached over and smoothed her cheek, feeling the dampness against his skin, the taste salty when he brought his thumb to his mouth. She didn't stir and he realized she'd fallen asleep.

Pulling the chair closer to the bed, he propped his feet up on the edge and made himself as comfortable as possible. He'd certainly slept in better places, but he'd also slept in a great deal worse. At least it was dry and warm, with the odds of something trying to kill him while he slept at slim to none. He could live with that.

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to be continued...


	4. Out of sight Out of mind

12/04/08

Title: Time and Distance

Chapter: Four - Out of sight, out of mind.

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: Two years past S2Ep7

Paring: Abby/Connor to star, Abby/Stephen to finish

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Stephen sat in the breakfast room sipping a cup of coffee and wondering if he should go upstairs and rouse Abby. He'd spent a large part of the night at her bedside, but eventually had to abandon his vigil to return to his own bed. He wasn't exactly old at thirty five, but his back soon told him he wasn't a teenager either to be sleeping upright in an unforgiving armchair. Abby had slept undisturbed, as far as he could tell, without nightmares or other side effects from her emotional outpouring, so he'd felt alright leaving her just before dawn to catch a few hours himself.

He'd jerked awake at seven for some reason, his senses all on alert, but despite laying there and listening hard, he couldn't fathom what had pulled him from a perfectly good sleep. Unable to settle, he'd risen and gone for an hours run along the deserted country roads, frost laying heavily in the hollows and fog winding around the bottoms of the trees. It was an alien world and his lungs didn't like the cold temperature, but he persisted and returned feeling ready to face the day. The landlord had been startled when he'd appeared in the courtyard, steam rising off his body from his exertions, like a ghost wreathed in mist.

After a quick shower and change of clothes he poked his head around Abby's door. Finding her still asleep he made his way downstairs and partook of the excellent breakfast menu, making the landlady positively beam when he polished off a huge plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. Like sleep, Stephen never took opportunities of a free meal for granted, having known times when he'd had to go hungry while stalking creatures or waiting out a predator intent on eating him.

Downing the dregs of his cup, he rose to his feet only to remain where he was when a commotion broke out in the doorway to the breakfast room. A man was standing there dressed for the outdoors but shouting and gesticulating like a madman. Stephen, like the other diners, all watched the exchange with the landlord with interest.

"It was a monster, I tell you...bigger than anything I've seen in these parts!"

"It was probably a big dog Bill..."

"A bloody big dog that's killed a dozen of my best black face sheep. The vet's up there now putting another handful down because of their mauling."

"There you go, it was one of those packs..."

"Ya not listening...I saw it...'tweren't no pack of dogs...it was..." the man flapped his hands, attempting to indicate the size of what he saw. "Huge!"

"Then we'd better call the ranger and the police." The landlord suddenly realized that he and Bill were the center of attention for a fair number of their guests, many of whom were likely to be tramping or climbing in the district later in the day. Putting on his best smile, the man turned to his guests and held out his hands. "Nothing to worry about folks, just an unfortunate dog attack on a flock of sheep."

"Weren't no dog attack..." Bill said again loudly, but he was already being ushered away from in front of the guests by the landlord.

"Damn." Stephen muttered under his breath, leaving the breakfast room as casually as possible before taking the stairs two at a time. He'd been right. Something had followed him through and it was probably one of the Pachyaena's. Big brutes and likely to find a flock of sheep an easy target for a meal. Now he had no choice but to wake Abby.

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Abby awoke to the aroma of fresh coffee and Stephen sitting on the side of her bed. Both were a surprise, and both very effectively dispelled the fog of sleep from her brain in record time.

"What do you want?" She took the coffee and sipped. She knew she sounded fractious, but her head ached and her eyes felt like a small sand dune had taken up residence behind her eyelids.

Stephen just smiled at her and remained where he was. "You have to get up and get dressed."

"Why?"

"There's probably a Pachyaena wandering around the Peak District and we have to find it before it attacks anyone."

Abby stared at him a moment, then took another sip, her brain starting to clear with the injection of caffeine into her veins. "A what?"

"Big ugly scavenger, pack hunter who more than likely followed me through the anomaly that brought me here."

"And you know this why?"

"Sheep farmer reported an attack this morning on his flock. He witnessed the creature fleeing the scene. His description fits."

"I'll have to call the ARC...we need a team out here..."

"No time. Do you have anything in your car...dart gun, rifle...anything?"

"Yes, of course, I carry all that around with me all the time, right next to the spare tyre and the tool box...No! I don't have a gun!"

Stephen grinned at her sarcasm and cross expression. "You know you're adorable when you're crabby in the morning."

"I'm not crabby. We can't do this on our own..."

"Who's this we? Oh, I'll need the keys to your car, and that magic credit card..." He held out his hand as if she had all those on her person.

"Oh no you don't. No one drives my car but me, and that credit card is not for the purpose of buying anything I don't approve of!"

Stephen shook his head, not abashed one iota by her ferocious scowl. "Then get that delightful backside into the shower and get dressed. You have fifteen minutes or I leave without you."

Abby blinked at him for a moment, reading the truth in his eyes. He would leave her if she didn't get a move on.

"Get out of my way oaf...fifteen minutes? I'll be ready in ten!"

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"I don't see why we can't wait for a team to arrive." Abby grumbled, tooling the Toyota into a parking spot outside Armstrong's Gunsmith in Stockport. Stephen ignored her, getting out of the car and resting his arm on the roof while he checked out the shop front. Most of the display was for fishing gear, but he could just make out a gun rack at the back of the shop.

"Come on Abby, we have to hope they have something usable in stock. What's the credit limit on that card?"

Abby, in turn, ignored him, taking her time to lock the car then rummage in her bag for her wallet before slinging the whole lot over her shoulder. Looking up she found Stephen standing on the kerb with his arms folded, watching her.

"What?" Abby asked, feigning innocence.

Stephen led the way inside and headed straight to the back, Abby on his heels. The proprietor saw them coming and came out from his workshop behind the counter, noting the way Stephen was already assessing the stock on display and finding it wanting.

"You want something for a specific purpose sir?"

Stephen rested his hands on the counter and eyed the man appreciatively.

"Very specific."

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Less than an hour later they were leaving Stockport and returning along the Glossop Road, bypassing the turning for the hotel and heading up into the hills via the A57, affectionately known as Snake Road by the locals.

"We have a perfectly good armory back at the ARC with any number of specialist rifles and dart guns." Abby observed, shooting a quick glance at her passenger who seemed absorbed in the passing scenery. "We didn't have to buy up half the blasted shop."

"Think of it as an investment in our continuing good health." Stephen replied, turning to smile at her.

Abby fumed, but kept driving until Stephen suddenly slapped his hand down on the dashboard, almost scaring her half to death and ordered her to stop. Braking hard, she did so. "Now what?"

"Wait here." Not bothering to explain, Stephen left her sitting in the car and loped off up the cutting beside the road, heading across the moorland.

"Arrogant macho control freak!" Abby yelled after him, yanking the steering wheel and pulling the car as far over to the left as possible. She leant forward and rested her forehead against the wheel, her head still pounding despite the two panadol swallowed with her hasty breakfast at Stockport.

She unclipped her seatbelt and sat back, closing her eyes. She supposed she should be more concerned about Stephen's avowal that there was a Pachyaena roaming the moors somewhere nearby, but her gritty eyes and sore throat made her less than enthusiastic about tramping about looking for the wretched thing, especially as she wouldn't have the back up of her team with all the latest electronic tracking devices and weaponry.

"When did I get so soft?" She chided herself, remembering how little they'd had in the early days, their entire store of hardware able to be packed onto the back of a ute together with the four of them. She must have dozed, the warm midday sun powering in through the windscreen making the car snug against the chill she knew was in the air outside. The door opening suddenly made her swing around in surprise, realising belatedly that she hadn't locked the car doors while she napped.

Stephen leant down and peered at her, his narrowed eyed assessment of her making up his mind for him.

"You go back to the hotel, I'll start from here and track my way back," he was wearing a back pack that she hadn't seen before.

"Not on your life. I'm responsible for all this gear and I'm perfectly able to keep up with you."

"Abby...you're tired, cranky and we could be out all night looking for this creature."

"Your point being?" She had exited the drivers side and glared at him over the roof. A small van passed them and honked, Stephen waving to the driver before turning back to face her.

"You're not exactly a hundred percent yourself," Abby reminded him.

"Point taken. Here..." He threw her one of the empty back pack's they'd bought. "Fill this with whatever you think we'll need for an overnighter. I'll carry the guns and ammo."

"What about my car?"

Stephen ducked down then appeared with a folded map that he laid out on the roof and studied for a second or two. He stabbed at the map with his finger. "Alright. Here. There's the head of a walking track with car parking. We'll drive along to that and leave it there. Then we'll cut across country and start our search."

Half an hour later they were kitted out and the car was a distant yellow speck against the green behind them. Abby shifted the straps of her pack and let it settle against her shoulders, her lips tightly compressed against the pull of the weight on her back. Stephen walked ahead of her, his head bent as he studied the ground. They had left the main track and were heading south west, back towards a tiny village nestled among the peaks, called Edale, where the sheep attack had taken place the night before. Stephen hoped to pick up the tracks of the Pachyaena long before then, setting a cracking pace that Abby struggled to keep up with.

Two hours into their trek and Stephen held up his hand, crouching down to inspect the ground. Abby was glad of the rest, quickly letting the heavy pack fall to the scrubby grass before she joined it, pulling her drink bottle out of a side pocket to take a swig.

Stephen rose up and took his own pack off, laying it down gun side up, to make for easy access. Catching the water bottle thrown to him by Abby, he took a long swallow, before recapping it and throwing it back to her.

"It's here. Only a few hours ago. And there's more than one."

He waited for her to absorb those facts before speaking again. "They've had nearly seventy two hours to explore this area and find a den, a food source and water. We have to hope the weather stays in this holding pattern until we find out where they're based. If it's a breeding pair they'll stay close together, if not, they could already be looking for separate hunting grounds. The sheep are too tempting and easy to ignore, but these are intelligent hunters. Once the news gets out, it'll only take a few potshots by the local farmers to send them to ground and make our job more difficult."

He caught the muesli bar Abby tossed his way. "We'll stay on this ridge. It overlooks the valley and their current food source. If we can find them before the farmers we have a good chance of potting them both before any serious damage is done."

"Don't you mean any more serious damage? They've already killed a number of sheep."

"I was thinking more along the lines of someone thinking they're only dogs and getting too close. These aren't dogs...these are much bigger, faster and more cunning. They have no fear of humans and are likely to treat a man the same way they did the sheep."

Abby munched on her bar and nodded. She was glad she'd had the foresight to leave her tramping boots in the back of her car from the last time, along with her other bits of recreational outdoor gear. Stephen had supplemented his meager wardrobe with everything necessary at the gun shop, the gunsmith positively rubbing his hands with glee at the size of the bill once it was toted up. It could easily have been the biggest sale he'd seen in years.

Still, she would be glad to get her boots off when they finally made camp. They might be the most comfortable and broken in that she had, but they were still covering some pretty rough ground.

They set off again soon after, Stephen paying even closer attention to the ground, sometimes stopping and staring off into the distance his hand raised to halt their progress, that same hand left hanging in mid air until he was satisfied the way was clear. Abby watched and listened and tried to pay attention, the spectacular scenery often distracting her so that she had to jog to catch up with him after admiring a particularly fascinating geological formation.

At length it was clear they wouldn't have much more daylight ahead of them, Stephen calling a halt and looking around for somewhere to pitch camp for the night. They had been following a ridge above the Kinder Reservoir, heading in a northerly direction, the view quite breathtaking looking down towards Birch Vale and Hayfield on the Glossop road. Stephen had been stopping more and more often, his fingers brushing over the ground at his feet, tracing the indentations of paw prints and scuff marks. They'd passed a mutilated sheep carcass further back on the trail, the animal ripped apart, leg bones snapped like twigs, the skull shattered. The fact it had been dragged so far before being consumed spoke volumes about the stamina and strength of the creatures they were tracking.

Stephen led them down into a dry stream bed that in a downpour would flow over the ridge and down into the reservoir. It was lined with stunted trees and scrubby brush providing a wind break and some cover if it rained in the night.

A fire was out of the question, but a small gas bottle burner was enough to produce a pan of boiling water for a welcome hot drink.

Wafer thin rubber mats were all that separated them from the stony dirt, Abby thinking longingly of the soft bed back at the hotel, her sleeping bag a poor substitute. They had only one lamp which Stephen hung from a branch, the hissing light dispelling some of the night but none of the cold.

Abby watched as Stephen worked on the guns, cleaning and loading, checking and rechecking the sights before setting each one down within easy reach of his sleeping bag. Despite them being similarly dressed, Stephen appeared to be unaffected by the drop in temperature while Abby wondered if she'd be much more than an icicle by morning. Banging her gloved hands together she tried to warm her fingers, stamping her feet at the same time and drawing amused looks from her companion.

"Shit it's cold." She muttered, more to herself than him.

"Surprising, isn't it? You'd expect it to be warmer for May, but at these elevations, it pays to dress warmer than you would for the foothills."

Abby pulled her beanie down further over her ears and hunched her shoulders, sure she'd be suffering frostbite before long. "I'm cold."

"Then get in the sleeping bag. Try to rest. I'll be on watch."

"But you have to sleep too, and we haven't changed that dressing today."

"I took care of it this morning," he hedged. Abby looked at him sideways then shrugged her shoulders.

"Fine. Wake me in five hours," she checked her watch. "It'll be midnight then and I'll take over."

She waited for him to protest or make some smart comment. When he didn't she paused in wriggling down into her sleeping bag. "I mean it Stephen...wake me. I'm as competent as you with one of those," she pointed to the gun.

"Never doubted it. I'll see you at midnight." He tipped her a mock salute, the light from the lamp glinting off his teeth.

Abby hunkered down in her sleeping back and tried to ignore her cold feet. She briefly wondered if she should have checked her cell phone before calling it a night, but then she remembered her conversation with Connor and the desire to make contact evaporated. Let him stew and wonder what she was doing, it would serve him right if she was eaten by a ravening carnivore, her bones left to bleach in the sun until some tramper wandered off the designated track and found their camp with her mortal remains.

To her surprise, she did sleep and well, until an unearthly howl made her jerk awake to find Stephen's hand muffling her mouth.

"Don't make a sound," he whispered, removing his hand and passing her one of the rifles. "Time to prove you're as good as you say you are." He remained crouching beside her as she eased herself out of her sleeping back and quickly put on her boots. "Ready?"

"Ready," Abby replied, her eyes quickly becoming accustomed to the starlit landscape around them. The gas lamp had been turned down to barely on to help with their night vision, Stephen moving off to the side and Abby following. Stephen had suspected the creatures would likely investigate their small campsite, positioning himself now so that he and Abby could cover both directions at once while sheltered against a low tumble of large rocks. The predators would have to come down into the shallow wash to reach their prey, hopefully silhouetting themselves against the skyline and making perfect targets for him to pick off. If they chose another route, both he and Abby would see them whichever direction they came from, able to defend themselves from a frontal attack while the rocks protected their backs.

Another howl split the night and he felt Abby shiver against his side.

"They're just testing us to see if we'll break cover," he whispered.

"I know. It's just such a gawd-awful noise." She saw something move and drew in a sharp breath.

"Where is it?" Stephen asked, Abby drawing off the glove on her trigger hand with her teeth.

"I think it's in the camp," Abby whispered back, a loud clatter a second later confirming it.

Stephen didn't move from his position facing away from the camp. He was sure the other one would be circling around to attack from behind, trusting to Abby to fire if she sighted a target.

He was right on the money when he saw movement higher up the stream bed, the animal moving silently from shadow to shadow, closer with every stride.

"I have the second target in my scope," he reported, raising the rifle to his shoulder and sighting along the barrel. Visibility was difficulty and he had to check several times before he had the creature square in the sights. The shot sounded like a cannon firing, the howl of the large predator echoed by its mate who leapt, only to be met by a shot from Abby's gun, the animal dropping instantly to lay still among the river stones.

"Mine's down, not moving," Abby said, her voice a little unsteady. Steven kept his eyes on the spot his target had been last seen in, the deep shadows hiding it's carcass.

"Stay here, I'll check on mine." He patted her shoulder before leaving, circling the rocks and making his way up the slight incline. When he reached the spot he knew he'd seen the creature he found blood but no body. Cursing, he swung around and hurried back to the rocks. A sound to his right made him bring his gun up but the male Pachyaena was faster, knocking the weapon out of his hand and pouncing, Stephen bringing his arm up to protect his head as he rolled.

Abby heard the scuffle and stood up, squinting to see what was taking place. She could hear Stephen grunting as he tried to avoid the claws and teeth of the predator, as well as the snarls and growls of his attacker, but they kept moving in and out of the shadows and Abby couldn't get a clear shot of the creature without risking shooting Stephen.

"I can't see it!" She screamed, raising the rifle again only to let it drop in frustration. "Stephen!"

"Shoot the bloody thing, it's ripping my arm off!" Stephen's shout came from the left, Abby swinging around and taking aim, the shot catching the predator high in the shoulder and making it snarl and howl in pain and rage. Abby reloaded and advanced, able to see it now, Stephen trapped under it's body as it stood at bay, its formidable mouthful of teeth bared in a frightening snarl. She fired again and this time hit it square in the head, the beast dropping heavily to the ground and pinning Stephen beneath it. The silence that followed was almost deafening, Abby drawing a sobbing breath as reaction set in. She shook from head to toe, but still had the presence of mind to take care of the gun before running over to help Stephen.

With him using his legs, and Abby hauling for all she was worth, they managed to roll the dead Pachyaena off, Stephen managing at last to get to his feet, one arm held close to his chest.

Together they stumbled down the slope back to the camp, Abby collecting both hers and Stephen's gun and carrying them back. After securing the weapons she approached Stephen who had sat down rather heavily on his sleeping back, his arm still clutched against his chest. Abby fiddled with the gas lamp to turn up the flame, the increased light showing the true extent of damage done to Stephen's arm. Blood soaked his sleeve and dripped steadily down his front, staining his jacket and trousers.

Abby took one look at his pale face and scrabbled for her pack. Pulling out the first aid kit she went to work. Stephen didn't utter a word, too busy biting his tongue to keep from screaming, concentrating on staying awake while Abby cut away his sleeve and put pressure on the deep puncture wounds leaking his life blood onto the ground.

"Hold this...as tight as you can..." She positioned his free hand around his wounded arm to keep the pressure on, then pulled her own sleeping bag over and rolled it up to position behind him to keep him upright. "Stephen..." when he didn't answer her, she tried again, "Stephen...I have to call for help. If I don't you could bleed to death...I can't afford to wait until morning to see what needs to be done, you could be dead by then. You need more than I can do. You need medical attention now. I'm going to walk down to the ridge above the reservoir and get help."

Not waiting to hear his response, she snagged one of the torches and her cell phone, plus something from the bottom of her back pack and set off.

Stephen watched her light bob its way down the stream bed until he lost it from sight. Cursing his current bad luck, he clutched his arm and willed the blood to stop finding a way past the thick gauze. He zoned out for a short time because when he opened his eyes Abby was back, her hand now holding the padding around his arm, his own hand laying lax at his side.

"They're on their way Stephen...just hang on, please hang on...only a little longer."

He tried to tell her he wasn't worried in the least, his eyes refusing to stay open and his head feeling a little like a helium balloon. Abby moved closer, his head falling heavily onto her shoulder when he passed out.

Abby had to move him when the helicopter arrived, using the torch to signal when they got close enough. They sent down a basket and winched Stephen aboard, then Abby with their gear. The ride to the ARC took only thirty minutes air time, the medic aboard getting a drip in Stephen's hand and a pressure bandage on his wounded arm.

An hour later and she was following a gurney from the back of the ambulance into the purpose built hospital wing of the ARC, the medical team swarming over Stephen, cutting off his outer clothes, causing Abby to sigh over the waste of all that government money spent on outfitting the man, only to have them reduced to rags. Just as the gurney was wheeled into an examination room she heard her name called.

Coming to a halt in front of the swing doors she stared through the panel of clear glass a second longer before turning to face her boss.

"I've been called away from a very important meeting Ms. Temple. I certainly hope the reason behind your emergency is sufficient to warrant it."

"It is Sir Lester. Look." She pointed through the observation panel and stepped back.

Lester looked a second later, his eyebrows climbing to his hairline. "Good God."

"What did that is being unloaded into observation room two, if you care to see them."

"Them?"

"Two Pachyaena's, one male, one female. They came through the same anomaly Stephen did."

"How long ago."

"Three days at least."

"And I am hearing about this now because?"

"I...well...you see..." She stopped when Lester held up his hand.

"Keep me apprised of his condition. I expect you to have a full report on my desk by morning."

Lester raised one imperious eyebrow until she nodded. "Right then, I'll be off. Let's hope they left me some dessert."

Abby watched him until he turned the corner before returning to the infirmary. The medical team were still working so she turned away and wandered down the hall to observation room two. Considering it was close to midnight there were plenty of staff on hand to carry out the necropsy on the Paleogenic creatures she'd shot and killed. A surge of professional pride swept over her when she realized she had, in fact, bagged both of them, Stephen only winging the male before it jumped him.

A door further down swung open and she was surprised to see Connor, his head down, headphones in both ears, a folder in his hand. She remained where she was, not moving as he walked closer and closer. He drew level and she thought he would pass her by, his step faltering when he spotted her.

Slowly pulling the ear plugs out he let them fall onto his shoulders and stared at her.

"Abby!"

"Connor."

They stared at each other for a moment, then Connor noticed the blood liberally soaking her jacket front and sleeves, plus her blood caked hands.

"What the fuck happened to you?"

"Someone got hurt." Abby told him simply, not sure how he would react to the news about the return of Stephen Hart into their lives. It had been hard enough when Stephen died, now to have him back, but not the same man as they remembered, was going to cause all sorts of problems.

Connor had already made one and one add up and looked back down the corridor to the medical wing. "You're here with him?" Then not waiting for her answer he set off to see for himself.

"Connor wait!" But it was already too late, he was staring through the glass at the patient inside.

When Abby stood beside him he turned to stare at her, his expression going from startled surprise to rage in the blink of an eye.

"This is what you wouldn't tell me...this is your mystery man?!"

"Connor it wasn't like that..." She flinched when he flung his arm up, stepping back from her and pointing at the man on the gurney.

"Why didn't you say, why keep it a deep, dark secret? Stephen Hart risen from the dead...that's front page news Abby! But what do you do? Break the bastard out of jail, shack up with him in some hotel in Glossop and then...then I can only guess, from the way you're dressed, you must have traipsed all over the moors and somehow got him injured."

"Would you at least stop shouting?" Abby asked, rubbing a hand over her face and leaving behind a streak of red. She glanced into the medical bay and met the angry scowl of the head nurse, his sharp jerk of the head telling her to move on and take the argument elsewhere.

Connor followed her down the corridor, his anger radiating out like a force wave. Abby ignored him and led him to the observation bay, pointing at the two dead creatures, one of them already half dissected.

"That's what we were doing out there...that's what injured him," then she pointed to herself. "I shot them both...Stephen only winged one before he was attacked. I shot them both dead and saved him, in the dark, on my own." From somewhere inside her she felt an upwelling of sadness, taking the edge off her temper. A fatalistic acceptance that whatever she and Connor had had, it was gone and she wanted nothing more to do with him or their ill fated marriage. "If you want to know the rest I suggest you read my report after Lester has," she drew in a deep breath. "Now...I'm going to get out of these clothes, take a shower and get started on my report. I don't care what you do, just don't get in my way."

She heard him call her name but kept on walking, her head high and her back straight. When she turned the corner and entered the locker room she all but collapsed against the wall, her legs shaking and ready to give out on her. After a moment she managed to lock her knees and stagger to her locker, stripping off her blood stained clothes before walking into one of the stalls and letting the scalding hot water wash everything away.

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to be continued...


	5. Gotta pick yourself up Dust yourself off

13/04/08

Title: Time and Distance.

Chapter: Five - Gotta pick yourself up, dust yourself off

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: Two years beyond S2Ep7

Pairing: Stabby all the way.

Author's Note: Now you get to find out why this had an "M" rating.

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Abby hit the send button and sat back in her chair. Her bottom was numb, her eyes back to impersonating sand dunes and her stomach was rumbling. Despite all of that, she had finished the report and Lester could now find a suitable punishment for her overspending. With the paperwork out of the way, she just had to figure out where she was going to spend the remainder of her night, or more properly her morning. The ARC had finally ceased to be a cauldron of activity around three, the dissection team finished with their part, the creatures put on ice for the forensic team to pick apart during the day shift. Connor had left but she couldn't be sure when, never approaching her again after their spat outside observation room two. Only the medical wing was still illuminated along with her small office, her computer screen casting blue shadows as she worked.

She wondered if Stephen had come out of his coma, or if the amount of blood loss had been too extreme. She hoped he was more comfortably off than she was, her desk top a hard pillow under her bent arms.

"Ms. Temple?"

Abby lifted her head and peered bleary eyed at the medical tech who stood in her doorway.

"Ms. Temple...Mister Hart would like a word."

"I'm sure he'd like several," Abby joked, the tech giving her a funny look before speaking again.

"I realise it's not exactly convenient, given the time, and I'm sure you want to get off home, but it would help settle him if you could spend a minute or two with him?"

Abby sat up and stared round eyed at the girl. "Settle him?" She stood up and walked around the desk. "What exactly is the problem?"

The girl shuffled her feet then lifted her chin. "He simply won't rest until he's seen you and if he keeps up this mucking about...well, we thought, if you wouldn't mind..."

"Of course I'll come. After you..." Abby followed the tech to the medical wing, hearing Stephen before she saw him. He was bellowing something about his rights when she entered the room, his eyes fixing on her as soon as she got close enough. He looked pale and sweaty and not at all well, Abby glancing at the nurse with a worried frown.

"He needs to rest Ms. Temple...there was a great deal of blood loss but he's stabilized now. We just need to get him to sleep and give his body time to recover."

Abby pulled up a metal chair and gave the girl a wan smile before turning her attention to the difficult patient.

Stephen lay back against the pillows and gazed dreamily up at her.

"I love you..." he slurred. Abby gave the nurse a shocked look.

"We've given him as much relaxant as we can, given his situation. He's just fighting it. He's bound to be a little..."

"Confused?" Abby suggested ruefully.

The nurse grinned. "Yeah. I'll be in the next room, call me if you need anything."

Stephen was still looking at Abby with a goofy smile on his face. "Did I mention I think I love you?"

"Once or twice...they really have you on the good stuff, don't they?"

"Only the best for the mighty hunter."

Abby smiled down at him, her tiredness gone. "You know I saved your butt out there..."

"That's my girl...Abby, mighty huntress, the Diana of Derbyshire."

Abby laughed softly at his joke. "More like Annie Oakley!"

Stephen frowned at her, flapping his uninjured hand to brush off her comment. "No...not her...Diana, the goddess...bare breasted and armed to the teeth."

"Now there's an image for you," Abby snorted, smiling and blushing while her eyes roved over him appreciatively. He really was far too handsome for his own good, his overlong fringe brushed back from his damp forehead, his blue eyes only showing a thin rim of bright colour because his iris's were so dilated from the drugs. Even with one arm thickly bandaged and the other sporting a shunt in his wrist, he looked positively edible with that silly grin plastered all over his face.

"I like this place...they pump you full of all sorts of nice drugs...can't feel a thing!"

"That's a good thing Stephen...those bites were very deep, I wouldn't want to feel them either."

She saw his winged brows pull together in a ferocious frown, his gaze still fixed on her face.

"They said I wasn't to have any visitors...an' I told them...Abby will come...she'll want to see me, she loves me..."

"Stephen...you can't say that, it's not true...you don't love me and I don't love you..."

He gave her his patented smirk and tapped the side of his nose with his free hand. "Liar...but I'll keep your secret, if you'll keep mine."

Abby steered his wavering hand down to lay beside him on the covers. "You can't love me Stephen...I'm married...remember?"

"Married? Pshaw..." He made a rude raspberry noise, "to Connor? That's not likely...he's a boy...how can you love a boy?"

"He's not a boy any more Stephen..." But he ignored her, his words becoming slower and more slurred as the drugs finally took effect.

"Can't love him...you love me..." He was having difficulty keeping his eyes open, fighting the drugs to keep her in view. "Love me...know you do..." he tapped his bottom lip, "...kissed me..."

"Hey, you kissed me, not the other way around," Abby reminded him.

"Then kiss me now..." Stephen commanded his lashes fluttering as he struggled to keep awake.

"I can't," she held up her left hand and waggled the fingers to show off the wedding band. "Married."

"Get a divorce...then you can kiss me...all the time." His last words were barely audible, Abby straining to hear them despite them being nonsense.

"Stephen?" She leant forward, but his eyes remained shut, the lashes laying sooty and still against his cheeks. "Stephen!" She stood up and leaned over him, brushing his cheek with the back of her hand but getting no reaction. Abby was about to call the nurse when she checked herself. He looked so much younger asleep, his face washed clean of all the frown lines, the faint crows feet, the cynical line from his nose to the corners of his mouth, all smoothed out and leaving him looking like a sleeping angel sent down to tempt mortals into wicked sin.

"Goodnight Stephen...sleep well." She leant down further and gently pressed her lips to his, kissing him just as he'd asked, knowing full well he was unlikely to remember anything when he woke up from his drug induced slumber.

She pressed the buzzer for the nurse and sat back down on the chair. When the nurse arrived she didn't have to say much, the faint snores coming from the patient was enough.

Abby left the medical wing and slowly walked down the hallway towards the staff locker room. In a small annex was a bed intended to be used by anyone needing a quiet space or a place to rest and put their feet up. Abby appropriated the room and stretched out on the mattress.

She was still there, sleeping like a baby, when the morning shift signed in at eight, the clatter and bang of the employees not enough to rouse her from her dreams of kissing blue eyed angels sporting wings and very little else.

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Lester pinched the bridge of his nose and contemplated the report before him. He had to give her credit, she had detailed everything and attached a list of receipts for accounting, not a single item left out. All of it could be verified and all of it not telling him the one thing he wanted to know.

What to do with a man who has been dead for two years.

He picked up the report from the doctor which detailed everything about the man currently occupying a bed in the medical wing. For all intents and purposes, apart from a few inconsequential differences, the man was Stephen Hart, no doubt about it. His blood type was the same, his finger prints only displayed the most minuscule of differences, and his general appearance from hair colour to the specific shade of blue that made up his eyes was the same.

He was Stephen Hart.

There was only one major conundrum. He didn't belong here, in this time, in this place.

He picked up the phone and dialed a number. It rang for a long time but he remained on the line, knowing that the man he was trying to contact took a perverse pleasure in making him wait. At last the phone was picked up and a voice spoke a name down the line. Lester smiled.

"Cutter! Took you long enough, what were you doing? Sleeping?" He waited for the man at the end of the line to stop swearing before he spoke again. "Pleasure to speak to you too...yes, I am aware of what the time is where you are...no, don't hang up I have something important to tell you...no, it won't wait...Stephen Hart is back...no, I'm not mad...a man who is, for all intents and purposes Stephen Hart is currently here at the ARC...yes, I am aware of what happened two years ago, but...no, this is not a prank...if you would let me explain...yes, I'm aware of that..." Lester flinched when Nick Cutter slammed the phone down, breaking the connection.

"Well, he took that better than expected." Placing his own phone back on its cradle with exaggerated care, he picked up the printout of Abby's report and shuffled it into a neat pile. "Bloody scientists."

Turning back to his computer he typed up a quick email and attached the two reports before sending it on to Nick Cutter, care of the British Embassy in Jakarta.

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Stephen sat staring out of the window of his temporary quarters and wondered how he could break out. He wasn't exactly a prisoner, but without access to money and resources, he was effectively nailed down from doing very much of anything. His arm itched but he resisted the urge to scratch, concentrating instead on remembering what he'd said to Abby the night he'd been brought to the ARC to be patched up. He had seen her only once since his release from the medical wing and subsequent transfer to his new home, her visit brief and entirely impersonal, as if they'd never met before, never done anything together before that meeting.

Before that she had seen him on the day he was released, dropping her bombshell and effectively putting an end to anything that might have followed.

It had been a week after they'd returned to the ARC, a week since her visit to him that first night, a visit that even now he didn't remember too clearly.

It had been a week when he'd been interrogated by Lester as soon as deemed fit enough to do so by the doctor, the conversations long and repetitive. Then Lester had been replaced by a steady stream of officialdom including psychologist, physiotherapists, a couple of officials from the Home Office, some techno wizards wanting to quiz him about where he'd come from, and a more general debrief from the security head of the ARC. Everything he related was recorded, analyzed, dissected and filed, his body scanned, x-rayed, sampled and measured until he would have cheerfully committed murder on the next person he saw with a needle or clip board in their hand.

Abby appeared in his room as he received the final dressing check on his arm, slipping in and standing quietly beside the doorway, just watching while the nurse dressed the wound. He had been stripped to the waist, one hand braced on the side of the bed as he sat on the edge, his attention on the what was being done to his arm rather than on who was watching. When he finally noticed he couldn't stop the leap of his heart or the wide smile that broke out on his face on seeing her.

"A friendly face at last!" he called out, beckoning her over. The nurse working on his dressing cast him a fulminating look. He law her frown, gave her his best smirk and she smiled back, mollified.

Abby approached slowly, eating him up with her eyes, his skin prickling as those baby blues mapped every bit of his torso and arms, probably not even fully aware of what she was doing to his blood pressure. Only belatedly did she realise she was staring, looking up at him guiltily to find his eyes dancing with amusement.

"If I'd known you were going to be here to see me I'd have dressed for the occasion," he teased her, the nurse, putting the finishing touches on his arm, making a disparaging noise as she finished up. Busying herself with tidying up her work tray the nurse had a final set of instruction for her distracting patient. "Try not to scratch if it itches, the skin is still tender. You can cover it with a plastic bag when you shower, but keep it dry the rest of the time. We'll change it again on Friday." Satisfied she'd done all she needed, she exchanged a nod with Abby then bustled out.

"Have you been giving them a difficult time?" Abby asked, standing at arms length.

"No more so than usual." He noted her tense shoulders and the way her eyes flickered off to look at anything but him. "Abby...what's wrong?"

"Nothing...nothing at all. I just wanted to see you before I leave."

"Leave?" He eased his shirt over the bandaging and left it hanging open. "Where are you going?"

"Um...ah...I've been reassigned."

"What the hell does that mean?" He hopped down off the side of the bed and started to button his shirt. Unable to stop herself, Abby watched as he did so, her eyes following each twist of his fingers, each button closing his shirt and hiding his body from view.

"Nice shirt," was her only comment. Stephen glanced down at himself, grimacing at the puce coloured monstrosity.

"Not my choice, but beggars can't be choosers." He shrugged, leaning his hip against the side of the bed and crossing his arms loosely against his chest. "Who's idea was the reassignment?"

"Mine."

"Why?"

"Because..."

"Because of me, or because of Connor?"

"Both...neither...I can't stay here."

"I owe you Abby...you saved my life. You can't just walk away."

"You don't owe me anything. I'm just glad it wasn't worse than it was." She gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"You haven't been sleeping well." He remarked, steeling himself not to reach out and cup her cheek. There were dark circles under her eyes and she looked like hell.

She laughed lightly, acknowledging the truth of his close observation. "No, I haven't. I've been moving into a new place and there's a hundred and one things to remember to do." She turned her head away, presenting him with her profile. "I should be going..."

"Where are you being reassigned? Is it short or long term...can I call you?" He hated sounding so desperate, but she looked so lost and he was afraid if he didn't push she'd walk out of his life like she'd done in his own time and he'd never see her again. She lifted her hand to fiddle with her hair, unconsciously drawing his attention to the lack of rings on her left hand. She spoke again.

"When I return from leave I'll be doing research for a new company, still connected with the ARC. I just won't be going on any of the field reconnaissance any more."

"You've left him."

Her eyes met his then slid away. "We left each other...a mutual decision."

He reached out and grasped her shoulders, his fingers stopping her from moving away from him.

"Abby...you don't have to do this alone." Pulling her closer he slid his hands up her arms and along her collar bone until they cupped her face. Tilted her chin up with his thumbs he bent down and kissed her, her mouth opening willingly under his determined assault, her hands clutching at his shirt to steady herself. It seemed to last for hours but ended after only a few seconds, both of them breathing heavily and staring at each other before Abby wrenched herself away.

"It's too much...too soon. What you said before means nothing...can never mean anything."

"Abby? What did I say before?...before when?"

"That first night...when we brought you back here and you wouldn't settle down...never mind, it's not important...I have to go."

"Hey wait...what did I say?"

But Abby wasn't listening. The door swung shut behind her and Stephen was left wondering how things had gone so horribly wrong.

After his discharge from the medical wing he was assigned a government issue apartment, along with access to a government funded credit account for clothes and food, but everything else was clamped until they sorted out what to do with him. He only saw Abby the once after her visit to the medical wing, when he had just moved in, her visit timed to coincide with Lester's so they weren't alone together. She'd brought him a plant to soften the minimalist appearance of the flat, their conversation nothing above the ordinary and her visit only lasting a few minutes. Lester watched the awkward interchange and drew his own conclusions. When Abby left, Lester seated himself on the sofa and waited for Stephen to join him.

"I will be sorry to lose her," Lester remarked conversationally. "But I could hardly refuse her resignation."

"What!" Stephen twisted to face him. "She told me she had been reassigned, that she would still be working for the Anomaly Project?"

"Did she? How odd." Lester refrained adding anything other than to say, "it's what I always suspected when people meet, and marry, then try to work at the same company...never very successful." He watched Stephen's reaction closely. "From what little I know, she's decided to get right away from it all...up country somewhere, Derbyshire I think. Of course, she's still bound by the official secrets act, but I believe she was going to look for work to do with something involving animals or conservation or some such."

Lester didn't push Stephen when the younger man fell silent, shortly excusing himself, saying he'd be in touch when news came as to what had been decided about his future. Stephen only nodded and showed him out.

Now he sat and stared out of his window and wondered how he had managed to lose the same girl in two separate time lines. She had mentioned a conversation that first night when he'd been brought to the ARC, but he could only remember snatches, images, impressions. Nothing much about the actual words, maybe something about him being on the good stuff, and other bits of nonsense. He did recall her face looking down at him, amused at something he'd said, but not much else.

Obviously he'd said something outrageous or rude, enough for her to make a point of it before she walked out of his life for the second time.

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Abby sat amongst the boxes in her new home and stared glumly at one of her more exotic pets. It was an emerald green, plumed Basilisk, a native of South America. She had called him Rex the Second, in memory of her much loved Coelurosauravus. Her other pets were scattered throughout the sunny front room of the bedsit apartment, her finances not up to anything lavish or expensive. She had just finished reading the application filed by Connor for a decree nisi, citing adultery as the reason for the breakdown of their marriage. She had laughed out loud when she read it, the hysteria quickly turning to tears. He cited that she had an affair with Stephen, while she knew he had been seeing his prostitute on a regular basis. Neither were true grounds for a divorce because she had never done anything with Stephen, and she'd known about his arrangement with the prostitute. But if that was what was needed to end their marriage, she wasn't about to dispute it. Thankfully the flat had only been rented, and there were no children to complicate matters. She only had to wait for the court to rubber stamp the paperwork and then apply for a decree absolute and voila! In a few months she'd be a single woman again.

It only made her cry harder.

Rex the Second cocked his head at her and she blew her nose, smiling at his querulous expression. "I don't know what I'd do without you to cheer me up Rex."

Determined not to brood and become morose, she put on some music and danced slowly around the flat with the Basilisk watching her with bright eyes, his head bobbing. Feeling better, she set about emptying more boxes before she had to think about getting herself something for tea.

She scooped up a handful of flyer's and brochures she'd acquired from the town's library, a visit there proving a fund of information about local conservation groups. She still had a little time left to explore those avenues before she had to seriously think about what she was going to do for a job.

Lester had been remarkably helpful when she approached him about leaving the Anomaly Project, his suggestions about what she could do and where she could go proving that he really did keep his finger on the pulse of what was going on in the lives of his employees. He'd obviously read her mind when he suggested she might like to spend the remainder of her paid leave looking into or volunteering with organizations like Greenpeace or the WWF. It so correctly mirrored what she'd already been considering she was tempted to ask him if he'd been spying on her.

Instead she left his office much calmer than she had expected, her immediate future secure while she sorted out what she wanted to do in the long term. Never once did he mention Connor or Stephen, Abby grateful for that tact on his part.

Rex the Second stood on his food dish, making it clang against the glass and drawing Abby's attention to him. She saw he had his head turned sharply towards the front door. A loud knocking a second later confirming his instincts a a reptilian guard dog were in fine working order. Abby switched off the stereo and padded, in her socks, over to the door, peeping through the spy hole before wrenching it open.

She stared open mouthed at Stephen, his blue eyes not wavering in their steady regard of her.

"Hey."

"Dammit...what are you doing here?" She held onto the door, her knuckles turning white. Stephen remained on her doorstep, neither of them moving.

"Brought you a housewarming present."

Abby looked him up and down, liking the way the leather jacket emphasized the width of his shoulders, but seeing nothing that resembled a parcel or envelope. She raised her eyebrows and placed her free hand on her hip.

Stephen lifted his hand and raked it through his hair, for once looking not entirely sure of himself.

"Um...guess you're wondering what it is."

"Not really. I'm wondering how you managed to escape Lester's clutches."

"Let me in, and I'll tell you."

"Tell me, or I won't let you in." Abby countered, starting to feel more sure of herself. Rex the Second chose that moment to kick up a fuss with his food bowl, knocking it against the glass again. Abby glancing over her shoulder to see what he was doing, while Stephen moved forward to see what was making the noise.

"Is that a Basilisk?" Stephen inched his way past Abby, who had to step back or have her nose rubbed literally in his leather clad chest.

"His name is Rex the Second," Abby told him, rolling her eyes at how easily he'd got past her, the door banging shut behind her. "And how do you know what he is?"

"I've been to South America more times than I care to remember in my own time. Seen the cheeky beggars all over the place, never seen one up close. You know they call them the Jesus Lizard," Stephen was approaching the glass tank, while Rex canted his head and gobbled at the newcomer, his head shakes showing off his impressive, bright green crest, indicating his nervousness.

"He's not exactly friendly," Abby cautioned, watching man and lizard size each other up. Only Connor had managed to get close to Rex the Second, other than herself, and that was only because Connor lived with her. Stephen crouched down and peered at the large lizard who decided to do his own investigation by sticking out his tongue and testing the air and the flavour of the man on the other side of the glass. Apparently satisfied that the newcomer meant him no harm, the brilliantly colored lizard calmly turned his back on the room and its occupants, making a stately procession back to his favourite hidey hole.

Stephen rose to his feet, and stood with his hands at his side, watching her, drinking her in like a parched man at an oasis.

"I've missed you." He said softly.

Abby folded her arms over her chest in an attempt to prevent herself casting caution to the wind and giving into the temptation to throw herself at him.

When she didn't reply, Stephen sighed and looked around the flat instead. He spotted a battered back pack thrown into one corner and let out a whoop. "My bag, you have it!"

Abby watched wide eyed as he dodged around the stacks of boxes and swooped down to snag the strap of the well traveled pack.

"I thought it had been taken away by Lester and his goon squad. Instead you had it all this time...clever girl!" He grinned at Abby, sitting himself down on her couch and instantly rummaging through the contents.

"What's have you got in there to get so excited about?" Abby asked, intrigued despite herself. She edged closer to the couch and peered over his shoulder. Stephen was pulling out bits of clothing, books, some personal items and then something wrapped in a t-shirt. "What's that?"

Stephen didn't answer, instead he almost reverently started to unwrap the object that turned out to look a little like a black remote control with a small screen set in it. He glanced up at Abby and waved the object back and forth like a metronome.

"This could be my ticket back home...back to my time."

Abby looked skeptical, reaching out her hand to take it. Stephen hesitated a second then handed it over.

"It's an anomaly detector...greatly refined from the old radio frequency gadget Connor first devised. There's several years work gone into micro sizing the components to fit them all into this size and shape. With this little beauty you can not only find out when an anomaly opens, it will locate it, analyze the magnetic frequency and give you an approximate date to work with."

"Date?"

"For what's on the other side of the anomaly. It works in both directions."

Abby handed the controller back to him, canting her head to one side. "So what happened the last time you used it? Why did it fail and send you back to the wrong time?"

"I don't know. Admittedly I was anxious to leave almost by any means with the Pachyaena on my tail, but I should have still have had a reading, an alarm was supposed to have gone off..." He frowned in puzzlement.

"But it didn't?"

"No. It didn't." Stephen stared at the anomaly detector in his hand.

"Then it's faulty, you can't trust it."

"It could have been sabotaged." He turned it over and stared at the casing, looking for signs it had been tampered with. The screws holding the casing together looked scratched.

He rummaged again and produced a small metal case that revealed itself to be a mini toolkit, with implements that looked as if they belonged in a scaled down medical kit.

"Can you fix it?" Abby asked, curious despite the hollow feeling in her chest from the thought of him leaving.

"Possibly...maybe...depends on what's been done to it, and whether I recognise it when I see it. I'm not the one who designed or created this gizmo. We had tech heads who did that."

Abby felt a surge of relief at the prospect that it couldn't be fixed. She hesitated to suggest that maybe the techs at the ARC could fix it for him. Stephen was absorbed in carefully unscrewing the back panel, so she left him to it and wandered over to the small kitchenette, not much more than an alcove, and switched on the kettle.

"So how did you find me?" She asked casually. As cross as she was that he had, she was perversely pleased that he'd taken the trouble to do so. Not that she'd made it a state secret, but very few knew she had officially left, let alone where she'd gone. Connor knew, of course, but it was unlikely that Stephen would have approached him – which reminded her, she would have to tell Stephen about the application for a decree nisi as he was named as one of the parties involved. Lester also knew, and whoever had been involved in processing her final pay, and she had notified the local post office for forwarding mail. She turned and leant back against the counter edge to hear his reply.

Stephen fiddled with the anomaly detector and tried to concentrate on that, rather than the question raised by Abby. He heard Abby start to drum her fingers on the counter as the silence between them stretched from seconds into minutes.

"Stephen?"

"Yeah...um...Lester told me."

"No he didn't." Abby contradicted, "I asked him not to."

"Well...he did. It was part of the deal." He heard her drew in a sharp breath, then the soft pad of her feet as she paced back to where he sat. He didn't look up, just concentrated on what he was doing.

"What deal?" Abby was standing in front of him, her arms folded over her chest, her foot starting to tap. "Stephen...stop messing about with that thing and tell me...what deal?"

He sighed and looked up. "A deal that could officially raise me from the dead and employs me at the Anomaly Research Center." He shifted over to make space for her. After a brief internal battle, she sat down and twisted so she faced him. Stephen continued. "I know too much for them to let me run tame, and there's no reason I can't take the other Stephen's place. He's dead – I'm not." He saw her wince. "I'm sorry, that came out badly. That was their offer, so I made some counter offers of my own."

"Such as?"

"Where you were, for starters. Look...until I can find a way back via an anomaly to my own time, and it's just as likely I won't be able to, I need something to do, somewhere to live, and live on. It seemed logical, albeit a mite cold blooded, but you'd already lost the Stephen in this time, and I'm a apparently his twin in every respect except history, so I've been given the offer to take his place."

"Nick is going to hit the roof," Abby muttered, lifting her thumb and starting to chew at its side. "He suffered horribly when Stephen died, they were so close...I'm not sure he'll accept you despite the circumstances."

"I know. Nick is due back from Jakarta at the end of the month," Stephen laughed a little, "he's just as bloody minded as the one I know. He doesn't believe Lester at all, which is why he's not exactly running back to welcome me with open arms. But that's okay...Nick and I had a different relationship in my time to the one here, so whether or not he's happy about it doesn't worry me..."

"It'll worry him," Abby retorted, "he grieved deeply for you, for Stephen. What seeing you in the flesh, even if you're not the same man, will do to him I can't even begin to imagine."

"Yeah. I know that. That's why Lester agreed that it was best for me to be part of a splinter group being commissioned."

"Splinter Group?"

"Yeah. Despite how quiet it's been, there's evidence that the anomalies are not going to stop popping up all over this country, and as seen by the one appearing in Indonesia, they aren't limited to the British Isles. There may have been any number than have opened under water, in the oceans, in the air...hell, the Bermuda Triangle could be one huge bloody anomaly for all we know!"

"True, there's no evidence to suggest this is purely a British phenomenon."

"Exactly, it may be that other governments in other countries are being just as secretive about the whole thing as we are."

"So?"

"So, it's been tabled that we need to establish permanent bases for researching and containing those anomalies that appear in different parts of the country, see if there is a pattern to the creatures that appear through them or the time that is on the other side. It had been already started in my own time, hence the development of the gizmo, and the resources here are already stretched thin trying to cope from just one central base – the ARC."

"So they're setting up other centers around the country?"

"Yeah, which is where I come in...and maybe you."

Abby leant back against the arm of the couch and shook her head. "Oh no...I just got out...I'm not about to sign up again."

"Then I don't either..."

"What?"

"Part of the deal and why Lester gave me your address. I agreed to sign on and organize the new base to be established to take care of anomaly sightings from Manchester northwards, while the ARC will concentrate on everything south of Birmingham. It still leaves a lot of ground to cover for just two centers, but each will have half a dozen teams to call on which doubles the response time and halves the traveling distance. Inevitably, the plan will include other ARC's to cover all the main center."

"And where do I come in to all this?"

"I want you with me, to help organize and train the new teams for the new ARC. You know as much, if not more than anyone else, including me. Together we can combine what we know from your time and mine and have all the resources to do it with." He reached for her hands and held them. "We've only scratched the surface of why these anomalies have started to appear. We need to know more, find out a way to close them at will, develop better ways of capturing the creatures that come through. Hopefully find a way to stop them appearing at all."

"I don't know...I had these plans..." she glanced at the pile of brochures sitting scattered on the table. Stephen followed her look and got up off the sofa to see what they were. He picked up a couple, reading the blurb and turning them over before putting them down again. It appeared that Lester had been right.

"Funny how some things change and other's stay the same." He remained standing at the table, his finger tips resting on the pamphlets. "Is this really what you want to do?"

"I'm considering it...yes."

"Of course you are. I should have realised." He abruptly swung around, his former animation gone. He reached down and started to repack his bag, shoving the items in hurriedly. "I'm sorry I bothered you Abby...I'll go now."

He reached for the anomaly tracker but Abby snatched it up and held it close to her chest. "Hang on a minute! What are you up to now? Where are you going?"

Stephen held out his hand, but didn't move to take the gadget from her. "I'm going back to Lester to tell him the deals off. He doesn't know about that," he pointed to the detector, "and I won't be telling him. I'll fix it and hopefully find my own way back."

Abby felt hopelessly confused. "I don't understand!"

"I don't expect you to. I misunderstood why you left, that's all. I thought it was because of me...or because of Connor...but it wasn't, was it? It's the same reason she left."

"She? You mean me...the Abby in your time. She left to do...what, exactly?"

"What you obviously want to do...and I think it's a good idea. You'll be a great conservationist or whatever you end up doing. It's a good idea and a worthy ambition."

"Stephen stop talking like some pompous git...I'm only thinking about it, I could pick it up at any time in the future."

"Give me the detector Abby, then you can get on with whatever it was you were doing."

"No." Abby clutched it to her chest and held on for dear life.

Stephen looked at her, perplexed by her refusal. "Hand it over. You said yourself...you just got out, you don't want to go back...so let me go and you can go join Greenpeace, or whatever."

"No." She hurriedly shoved the device behind her back, tucking it down the back of her sweatpants, at the same time pushing herself firmly against the back of the couch.

Stephen withdrew his outstretched hand and loosely crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you really want me to wrestle you for it? You know I'd win."

"Arrogant prat. Just sit down and listen for a moment instead of preaching at me."

"I don't preach. Give it back!"

"No. And don't shout at me. If you want it back, you'll have to agree to stay a little longer and not loom over me like some bully." She opened her eyes wide and smiled sweetly up at him. "You haven't even had the grand tour yet."

Stephen looked confused for a moment then shook his head ruefully. "You mean there's more to this dump than I'm already looking at?"

"Beggars can't be choosers, you said so yourself. What more do I need? I have a place to sleep, to eat and space for my pets."

Stephen looked around the room, at the boxes stacked one on top of the other, the glass cages and the battered leather sofa at the center. "Where were you planning on sleeping?"

Abby patted the arm of the sofa. Stephen scowled then his face cleared and he laughed. Abby smiled serenely, sure she'd won the battle if not the war.

"Alright, you win...for now. I never could resist you for long. What are we having for dinner?" he unzipped his leather jacket and eased it off his shoulders, laying it over the far end of the sofa and seating himself again, his arm stretched across the back, the buttons of his navy blue shirt straining across his chest. Abby blinked at him for a moment, surprised that he'd given in so easily.

"You're not going to try and wrestle your detector from me?" she sounded disappointed and Stephen grinned.

"Maybe later. Right now I'm off the official clock. I told Lester I'd try to convince you, but you don't need to be convinced. That's okay. Now I can just sit back and enjoy your hospitality. Any chance of a beer?"

"Only if you go out and buy it." Abby eased herself off the couch, her back to him and keeping a careful watch in case he decided to lunge after her after all and wrestle for the device.

Belatedly she realised the elastic in the waistband of her trousers was not up to the task of holding the anomaly detector where she put it, the damn thing starting to slide its way over her backside, heading for her leg. She backed away from the sofa as if treading on eggshells, willing it not to fall before she was far enough away to get it out. Putting her hand behind her back she held it through the fabric and just stopped it in time. Stephen watched the performance from his spot on the couch, not moving a muscle, but fighting to keep the grin off his face.

"If you get dressed, we can go out for a meal, or do some shopping if you'd rather eat in," he cast a glance at the clutter and confusion before looking at Abby again.

"I don't know any of the local restaurants.." Abby replied.

"You have a phone book, don't you?"

"Maybe. Somewhere."

"Get dressed...we'll sort it out on the way."

"You won't leave?"

"You have the detector...won't leave without that."

"Right. Um...one problem. This is, a you so rightly observed, the whole deal. Including where I get dressed...I kinda need you to..." she made a circular motion with one finger.

"Turn my back?" Stephen asked, unable to stop the smirk from blossoming across his face.

Abby rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Right then...one gentleman coming up...okay, if I stand by the window, back to the room."

"Fine. No peeking."

"Scouts honour."

She watched him saunter over to the bay window and push back the ratty net curtain to peer out. Satisfied, she did a quick mental itinerary of what she had to change into, give that most of her good clothes were still packed in suitcases.

Twenty minutes later and she was locking the door to her flat and walking beside Stephen down the road towards the high street and the promise of a meal.

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Abby stirred the froth on top of her coffee and stared at Stephen as he talked. She caught a movement at the next table and saw the occupants get up to leave, the woman casting a longing glance at Stephen, before her eyes met Abby's over his head. The woman shrugged one shoulder and smiled her resignation before turning to accompany her oblivious partner out of the room. Abby felt both flattered and put out that Stephen appeared to have garnered a great deal of attention without any effort on his part whatsoever. She had never been out with the Stephen from her own time, so never saw him other than at work, or in the field. Seeing him now, in a public place and the reactions of the woman, and even a few of the men, to his physical presence, made her realise just how unaware of his own attractiveness he was. Or deliberately appeared to be.

She flicked her gaze back to his and met a raised eyebrow.

"Not boring you am I?"

"No...not at all," she sat up a bit straighter. "I was just wondering if that woman at the next table managed to slip you her number when she talked to you at the bar."

"Hardly...why would she?"

"You truly don't know?" Abby downed the last of her coffee and wiped her mouth on the monogrammed linen napkin.

"Haven't a clue."

"Now that I don't believe. Practically every woman, and a few of the guys have been trying to catch your eye all evening."

Stephen shrugged. "Then they're doomed from the start...there's only one person I want ogling me."

He gave Abby a pointed look and felt a surge of pleasure when she blushed and looked away.

"That was a wonderful meal..." Abby commented, willing her face to cool down.

"The company made it wonderful," he reached for her hand and captured it, drawing her eyes back to meet his. "Abby...look, I know you're going through a lot at the moment, and you probably are really not ready to hear this..." he paused. Abby wondered if it was possible to pass out purely from anticipation. Stephen's hand was warm and strong but he held her fingers easily, without crushing them. Stephen looked up and met her slightly startled eyes.

"You can't possibly go back to that flea pit of a flat..."

"It's not that bad," Abby tugged at her hand but he wouldn't let it go.

"Abby...I want you to stay with me...tonight."

"Stay where?"

He smiled crookedly. "Here, actually, I took a room when I fetched the last round of drinks."

Abby tried to look offended, but couldn't stop the slow burn that was starting to make her limbs quiver. "You want to spend the night with me...here...in this hotel?"

"I want us to find out if this thing...whatever it is...between us is more than just my imagining."

Abby pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, the image of him naked, sprawled on the covers at the Windy Farm hotel in Glossop choosing to intrude on the moment, the heat inside her rising a notch at the thought of having that body all to herself, of having the man and the body all to herself.

"Okay." Was all she managed to get out, her mouth suddenly dry with the enormity of what she was agreeing too. After a beat, she added, hurriedly, "but this doesn't necessarily mean I'm agreeing to come back to the ARC, new field office or...or...anything."

Stephen smiled. "Okay," he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, Abby watching mesmerised, her mouth forming a silent oh. In a blink, she realised just how much of his potent sexuality he'd been keeping in check when he raised his eyes to meet hers, making her almost ignite on the spot and melt into a puddle on the carpet.

He never let go of her hand, drawing her up from the table and leading her over to the restaurant exit, where he paid for their meal. Then it was short walk to the hotel front desk where he collected a key. Abby drifted along beside him as if in a dream, hardly noticing the people passing them, or the number of stairs they climbed before they were standing outside a door with the number fifteen picked out in brass. Stephen finally released her hand to unlock the door, half turning to allow her to walk ahead of him into the darkened room. She turned almost at once to watch him close the door and toss the leather jacket onto a convenient chair. She cast a quick glance around the room liking the slightly gothic décor with its huge bed as the centerpiece.

"Nice room." She remarked, finding her breath starting to become short as his dexterous fingers unbuttoned her own leather jacket and pushed it off her shoulders, tossing it to join his on the chair. She blushed, the heat not limited to her cheeks. She stared up into his face, fascinated by the shadows cast by the subdued lighting, how thick his lashes were, how blue his eyes.

"I hadn't noticed..." Stephen replied, his hands no longer touching her, but his eyes undressing her, already picturing her under him, her skin flushed pink with arousal.

They stayed poised for a few moments, then came together in a rush, mouths open, tongues eagerly tangling, arms and hands clasping and grasping in a violent rush of released tension. This was no tender love making, no slow tease. She had made her decision and she wanted everything. Now.

It was a race to see who could cast their clothes off first. Abby dragging Stephen further into the room, her legs buckling when they hit the side of the bed, both of them falling onto the soft covers, never breaking the kiss that seemed to want to devour them both. Abby was the first to break away, her eyes dark with desire and need, her fingers scrabbling to get rid of her confining clothes while Stephen ripped off his shirt and unbuckled his trousers, never once taking his eyes of her.

If a look could set a person on fire, she was burning up. "Hurry..." she managed to articulate, needy and demanding, desperate for the feel of his skin on hers, his hands touching her, his mouth possessing her.

Stephen followed her up the bed, kissing any bit of flesh he could reach, his hands holding her still when she writhed to press herself closer, his mouth scorching a path back to her lips to claim them hungrily.

They rolled and she was stretched out atop the length of him, his body hot and hard against her belly, her hand finding him and wrapping around the hard flesh, her name falling from his lips as she stroked and teased his rigid erection.

Abby wanted him now, her body not content to wait, she wanted it hard and fast and Stephen was more than ready.

As if reading her mind, like a magician producing a gold coin out of thin air, Stephen held up a foil packet. Abby took it and quickly encased his cock with latex, surprising herself with her wanton abandon. She had been imagining this scene in frequent torrid dreams, the reality more than matching her expectations. Slow and loving would have to wait for the next time, right now she was too impatient. With Stephen still prone, she swung her leg over to straddle him, sitting up proud on her knees, feeling power surge through her. She braced herself on his chest and rose up, Stephen grasping his own flesh to hold it upright, meeting her as she slid down, taking him into her body and crying out his name when he stretched her, filled her, completed her.

He'd always known she was passionate, but to see her like this was a culmination of his wildest fantasies. She was truly Diana the huntress, her hands clasped in his to steady herself as she rode him, her head thrown back, breasts jutting proudly as she moved her hips in ways that made him flush hot and cold and all his blood pool at his sex. He felt her convulse around him, rippling and squeezing, her lips parting on a long, low moan of pleasure, while her body quivered and shook, her head falling forward, blue eyes meeting his in surprise and wonder.

"God...Stephen..." He rose up to meet her, wrapping his arms about her back, still hard inside her.

They kissed, Abby burrowing her fingers into his hair, her breasts pressing against his chest as she arched back to allow him greater access to her neck, pressing herself against him, Stephen nibbling on the tender flesh of her jaw and ear, his body flexing, hard and insistent inside her.

Shifting position, he lay her on her back against the pillows and smoothed her hair off her brow. He started to move, slowly thrusting his hips, pulling nearly all the way out then burying himself to the hilt, her legs wrapping around his waist to dig her heels into his backside, urging him on.

Stephen was already on a knife edge and took only a few powerful strokes before he too was shuddering against her, pouring himself inside her, his head falling to her breast while he dragged in much needed air to his starved lungs. Abby held him close with legs and arms, not wanting to break the intimate connection, loving the feel of his weight on her, his heat enveloping her, his lips against her collar bone.

Lifting his head, he gazed down at her, her lips red and well kissed, her cheeks flushed. "My perfect Abby..." he cupped the side of her face with his hand, Abby rubbing against it like a kitten, almost purring her contentment. He eased himself out of her and disposed of the condom, returning to her side straight after, Abby holding up the covers for him to slid under and join her after he switched off the over head light. Only the bedside light remained on, the glow lending a golden tinge to everything.

They lay, side by side, Abby stroking his face, her fingertips tracing the outline of his mouth, the arch of his brow, the silk of his hair through her fingers. He mapped the curve of her waist, his hand spanning the dip in her back, the swell of her bottom, cupping her breast to thumb the nipple.

Their second joining was slower, more adventurous, each discovering the other in a seductive dance of touch and taste, texture and response, flavour and feeling until, with hearts racing, they lay entwined, legs and arms, body and soul where words were superfluous and skin spoke a language of its own.

Abby nestled close in the aftermath, rubbing her face against the hollow of his shoulder, the silky pelt at the base of his throat soft against her skin. They lay as close as two people could, without inhabiting the other's skin, the thump of Stephen's heart a steady rhythm against her ear. She felt so relaxed and at peace she never wanted to move again, her fingers smoothing over the hard muscle of his opposite shoulder, delighting in the sheer maleness of him. She breathed in deeply and wondered how she'd ever survived without the smell of his skin, the taste of his sweat on her tongue. She wanted to bottle his scent so she could take him with her anywhere, wear him on her own skin and remind herself of this moment.

Stephen heard her sigh of contentment and smiled into the darkness. He had hoped the sex would be good. He hadn't bargained on it being beyond his wildest dreams. She seemed to just fit so right against him, he didn't ever want to let her go. She was perfect, in every sense of the word. He could taste her essence on his tongue, smell her sweet perfume of sweat, sex and Abby. He wanted to protect her from every harm in the world, keep her safe from every danger and ravish her at every opportunity. Now that he knew what was hidden under the clothes, behind the reserved persona, waiting to be awakened, to be brought to life, he'd be hard pressed to keep his hands and mouth off her for more than two seconds. He just wanted to stay melded with her, in her, against her, skin on skin and flesh in flesh forever.

He'd found his new purpose in life – to make her happy, to wring that sound from her throat as she climaxed around him, to see the flush of rosy arousal paint her fair skin, then taste it with his tongue.

He wanted everything, and more.

He had a sudden flash, an image of her heavy with his child, her body swollen and full, proof of their love, of their life, of a future. It surprised him, and once pictured, he couldn't get it out of his mind.

"We can do this." He announced clearly. Abby murmured sleepily and snuggled against him. "We can, we can make this work." He told her, turning his head to kiss the top of hers.

"...love you..." Abby whispered, her warm breath ghosting over his skin.

Stephen smiled and tightened his arms about her. "I love you too Abby...always have. Always will."

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to be continued...


	6. Terms and Conditions

16/04/08

Title: Time and Distance

Chapter: Six – Terms and Conditions

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: Two years post S2Ep7

Rating: M

Pairing: Stabby all the way.

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As Abby rightly predicted, Nick Cutter didn't take the news of Stephen's supposed return particularly well.

Despite Lester giving him the why's and wherefore's, it took Nick seeing his former friend in the flesh to drive home the final acceptance that the man he'd known was truly gone. Their meeting took place in the newly formed Manchester based Anomaly Research Center, the building not as spectacular on the outside as the original, but just as well equipped although still under construction in some areas. They were using a former military owned complex, the place already established in the local consciousness as a place to avoid and off limits to the local reporters and news hounds. It had in place facilities for air and ground transport and a sophisticated communications set up that could easily be adapted for their needs, with plenty of accommodation on base for staff and personnel.

The speed with which the entire operation came together suggested there had been plans, already in the making, to create such a place, Stephen calling Lester on the subject, the Home Office man only shrugging and saying it had been on a need to know basis for some time.

Nick arrived at the base and was waved inside by the security contingent posted at the main entrance. Like the original, there was a huge bay to accommodate vehicles for loading gear or personnel, as well as a separate access bay for the specific handling of any shape or size of creature that couldn't be returned immediately to their own time. But, apart from the bay, the two centers were laid out quite differently. There was no sloping ramp or glass offices, no glaring white walls or sterile laboratories.

All that was still to be installed, the interior resembling a construction site rather than a usable base for anomaly detection. He wandered through the gangs of army engineers directing soldiers with timber framing and metal beams, the noise incredible until he passed through the first of several swing doors, cutting the hammering down to a bearable level.

He saw who he thought was Abby pass across the corridor several meters away, her slight figure gone before he could call out to her. He'd had a long talk with Lester about the girl, Nick not surprised at the way things had worked out given his prior knowledge, before the drastic time alteration that lost Claudia forever. He may have been sunk pretty low after his Stephen's senseless death, but he hadn't been entirely blind to the reactions of the people close to him.

He'd had his own thoughts on the compatibility of his two young friends, his doubts outweighing his confidence that the marriage would last. Certainly Connor had thought himself completely in love with the girl, but Nick had always had reservations about Abby's feelings. Sure, she loved Connor dearly, as a friend, a confidante, a housemate, but he doubted very much if she was 'in' love with him. She had always held the lad at arms length when a deeper, more intense emotional connection was asked of her, Connor making his proposal at what Nick through was completely the wrong time. Abby's acceptance had surprised him, but he'd tried to keep his misgivings to himself and wished them happy. To find them now so far apart both in understanding and distance, didn't come as a surprise.

What did, was the fact she had taken up so readily with this new Stephen, this man that she shared no real history with, but who'd managed to talk her into coming back into the whole anomaly project after leaving it for such a short time. Of course, if the man was anything like his Stephen, he'd have the looks and the easy charm to coax tears from angels, if he chose to use it.

He asked one of the techs rushing past where he could find Stephen and was directed to a room further down the hallway. Outside the door, he drew in a deep breath, shoring up his emotional walls in preparation for meeting a ghost.

He pushed the swing door wide and stepped into a room that appeared to be intended to hold a variety of creatures. He heard Stephen before he saw him, the familiar timbre of his voice making Nick's gut clench with remembered pain of the raw heartache and loss he was only just getting over. Looking up at the scaffolding he saw his former student, his friend and the man he'd seen die in his place, making his way down to the floor, Nick noting the wide shoulders and more heavily muscled arms in the ubiquitous ratty t-shirt that his Stephen had worn because of the mucky nature of their job. This Stephen jumped the last few feet to the floor and landed lightly, like a cat, before straightening up and staring back up at the workman still perched thirty feet above his head.

Nick hung back and watched, noting the familiar things like the way this Stephen moved with the same lithe grace and his voice, confident and assured. He also recognized the differences, the rangier, bulked up frame, longer hair and the fact he was alive.

"Stephen." He spoke the name quietly, but with a strong Scottish emphasis.

He saw the younger man freeze then turn slowly around, the blue eyes he knew so well fixing on him, the surprise quickly veiled, changing to a wary caution, an expression Nick was unfamiliar with.

They approached each other across the cluttered floor, the sounds of work fading away around them as they drew closer. They stopped a foot apart, each appraising the other, Stephen giving Nick just as thorough a look over as he had done him.

"Nick." Stephen tilted his chin, his expression neutral, mirroring the man standing before him.

"How does it feel to be filling a dead man's shoes?" It wasn't what he'd meant to say, or ever intended to say, but it fell from his mouth of its own volition. He saw Stephen's eyes widen a fraction, then the younger man grinned.

"Bloody good. It has its advantages."

Nick had to give him points for giving back as good as he got. "You'll never be him." Nick jabbed again, seeking a weakness, wanting a reaction.

"Never wanted to be...but I have his name, his face...I can work with that. I heard it hit you pretty hard."

"Hardest damn thing I've ever had to deal with. Seeing you isn't helping."

"Didn't exactly plan on being stranded here myself. Blame whoever sabotaged my AD. Probably your wife had a hand in that."

"Helen?" Nick felt a ripple of shock run through him, all the old hurt over his Stephen and Helen rushing back in like acid.

"My Nick only had the one," Stephen cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow.

"She hasn't been seen since that day to this. If I saw her, I'd fucking shoot her myself."

"Feelings mutual, whatever time she comes from." Stephen ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture at odds with his confident posture. "Look...we can spend the entire afternoon at this, or we can be congenial. Fancy a beer?"

"Sure. Why not. I'm interested to hear how you managed to convince Abby to climb on this bandwagon again...is she here?"

"Somewhere about. She's in charge of the armory and rec room set up. She has some very definite plans for expansion on what you have in the old place. I can send someone to fetch her if you want to see her."

"I would."

"Alright. We'll see if we can find her ourselves first before sending out a search party." Stephen walked past Nick, giving the older man a quick pat on the shoulder. Nick had to swallow the lump forming in his throat. This was going to take some getting used too.

Abby was leaning over a counter, several sheets of specifications on weaponry spread out on the surface. She heard the swing door bang and popped her head up, seeing Stephen stride towards her.

"Stephen!" Swinging her legs over the counter and scattering the papers, she launched herself into his arms, Stephen catching her and swinging her around so her back was to the door. Before he could caution her, she was pulling his head down for a breath stealing kiss, her hands holding his face to hers, her body moving against his, making him hard in seconds.

Nick walked in and stopped dead, the door hitting his back as it swung closed. Stephen managed to break off the kiss, meeting Nick's hard stare over Abby's shoulder.

"Sweetheart...we're not alone," Stephen held Abby by the arms and gave her a long look before releasing her. Abby reached up to push her fringe off her face and turned, the smile on her lips freezing when she saw Nick standing just inside the door.

"Oh shit."

They stood there in a frozen tableau, Nick not sure what to feel, Stephen watchful and tense while Abby just looked shocked. In a second the was image shattered when Abby flew across the few feet between them and threw her arms about Nick, the older man enfolding her in his own as he rocked on his heels, his eyes still fixed on Stephen over her head.

"God Nick...it's been so long." Abby gave him a squeeze then leant back to see his face. She caught his fixed stare before it flickered and the sky blue eyes dropped to focus on her alone. He smiled.

"You're looking fine Abby, better than I expected."

"You've spoken to Connor." She said flatly, like a statement rather than a question.

"I have."

She pulled out of Nick's arms and took a step back then another, reaching behind her for Stephen's hand. He moved up and stood at her back, lending her a solid support, his protection against whatever Nick had to say.

"I don't expect you to understand..."Abby started to say, but Nick held up his hand to silence her explanation.

"You don't have to justify anything to me Abby. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you both...but I'm not your father...only your friend. If Stephen...this man, is the one to make you smile again, who am I to say otherwise."

"Oh he does Nick...you have no idea." Her face glowed when she craned her neck to look up at the man behind her. Stephen glanced down at her, then up at Nick, one mobile eyebrow raised.

"I didn't force Abby to come back to this project Nick...in fact I wanted her to go off and be a Greenpeace warrior."

"And let you have all the fun getting this place into shape?" Abby turned back to face Nick. "I weighed up my options and decided I rather be in the thick of it, than left on the sidelines. There's so much still to find out about the anomalies. I'm dying to read your report on Indonesia and what you found there...do you know about Stephen's gizmo he brought with him? It could make things so much quicker when combined with Connor's original set up."

"So I heard. Do either of you ever get a break around here? You did promise me a beer." Nick cast his eyes over the half finished rooms.

"We're due to knock off...let me just talk to the site manager," Stephen said, giving Abby a swift kiss on the cheek before moving past her and Nick to the swing door. "Meet you both at the main door in fifteen."

Abby and Nick stood without moving for a minute after Stephen left, neither entirely sure how to proceed.

"I love him Nick...in a way I never expected to," she was trying to convince him, to impress on him her total commitment to what she and Stephen shared. "In a way I never did with Connor."

"I can see that Abby. You don't have to say anything more." Nick passed a hand over his face, his own emotions pretty close to the surface. "Why don't you show me to the main door and we'll go wait for Stephen. Do you live near to here?"

Abby accepted the peace offering of the change of subject at face value. She could see that he was trying to hide his own feeling about seeing Stephen again, and gave him the space to get himself under control. It had been hard enough for her to deal with, she couldn't begin to understand how hard this must be for Nick.

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Nick looked around the flat and whistled appreciatively. Whatever he might privately think about the man with Stephen's face, he couldn't fault how he lived and looked after his Abby. His own Stephen had lived in a nice enough flat in his time, if a little austere as you'd expect of a single man with no family, and Abby had been living with borrowed finery at her first flat, and pretty much on tick when married to Connor. Here there had been no expense spared to make the roomy space as comfortable and home-like as possible, the amount of plants making it seem like a jungle, the terrariums framed by exotic house plants like a living exhibit in a boutique zoo. The furniture was generous and comfortable, the room flooded with later afternoon sunlight making the feature brick fireplace wall glow. It was a retreat from the hectic and potentially dangerous job they both were employed at, the first Stephen's death a constant reminder of the perils and possibilities.

Abby appeared in the doorway leading to the cozy kitchen, his bottle of wine unwrapped and uncorked. She held poured a glass for him before pouring one for herself.

"This is nice Abby...very nice."

"Isn't it? We were so lucky to get this place. It's perfect for my reptiles and it just so relaxing to come home to all this greenery."

"It's certainly very green."

"Here," she held out the glass for him and his took it, wondering how much of the room reflected Stephen, given his short time spent in their universe and how little he arrived with. Nick wandered over to the heavily stocked bookshelf and peered at the spines, recognizing several volumes he had himself. He pulled out one that looked more than just familiar, a quick flick to the front page and a read of the inscription made him almost snap the stem of the glass he was holding. Abby emerged from the kitchen with her own glass and stopped on seeing Nick's expression.

"Nick, what is it?"

"This is Stephen's book...my Stephen...our Stephen...where did you get it?" He didn't mean to sound so fierce, but he couldn't help himself.

"It was sent over by Jenny..." Abby didn't move, her eyes wide. "After Stephen died, you weren't in any state to deal with his belongings. Some one had to go and clear out his flat, box up his personal effects. Connor and I..." she paused, fighting for composure. "We tried to make sure nothing that was personal to him was lost. Most of his reference books are with me. If there are any that you want, please take them." She spun on her heel and returned to the kitchen, leaving him standing with the book open in his hand.

"I'm sorry..." he turned to apologise but she was gone. He cursed under his breath, then returned the book to the shelf. Downing the insipid wine and wishing he had a scotch in his hand, Nick went over to one of the couches and sank down into the butter soft black leather. The front door banged and he groaned, knowing he was going to have to explain why Abby was upset, Stephen appearing with hands full of shopping bags. He saw Nick and his smile faded, sensing the tension in the air.

"Where's Abby?" Stephen asked.

"Kitchen." Nick told him, leaning back and covering his eyes with his hand.

Stephen carried the bags through the door and set them down on the table. Abby had her back to him, her head bowed. He enfolded her from behind, kissing the side of her head but saying nothing.

Abby turned in his arms and burrowed into him.

Minutes ticked past before she pushed away and mopped her face. "Ignore this...I just got upset over something that happened a long time ago."

"What did Nick say?"

"Nothing...nothing important. It just brought up memories."

"About Stephen?"

"Yeah."

"You said it was going to be difficult."

"And it is...but that's okay. Nick is the one suffering. He doesn't have anyone to hold him."

"Look. I can get this meal underway. Go out there and take the bottle. I'll shout if I get stuck."

Abby rested her head against his chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart for a few seconds before pulling away. "Don't have the temperature up too high...you always burn the sauce."

"Check...low is good."

They shared a smile, then Abby snagged the wine bottle and walked out of the kitchen.

Stephen remained where he was, his fists clenched at his side. They'd already talked over the possible scenarios likely to come up during Nick's visit, whenever it took place. Abby was prepared, or as much as she could be, but no amount of preparation stops the emotions from taking over when the moment arrives.

He pulled ingredients out of the shopping bags and tried to refrain from banging the pots around too noisily, despite an overwhelming urge to throw something very breakable at the wall just to relieve his frayed temper. This wasn't his Nick they were dealing with, he, Stephen, didn't know this man, at least not in the way Abby did. He had to leave her to deal with, what was for them, a very personal issue.

Damn, but it was hard work living with a ghost.

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to be continued...


	7. Bad Apples

17/04/08

Title: Time and Distance

Chapter: Seven – Bad Apples

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: Two years past S2Ep7

Pairing: Stabby all the way

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Stephen felt Abby flinch against his side then settle again, her hand curled loosely just under his chin. He ached all over from his close encounter with an Eryops earlier that day, the heavy amphibian leading him on a merry chase through an area of swamp that fed into the Stock reservoir near Tosside.

It had been only one of the seven that emerged through an anomaly beside a small head water called Bottoms beck that fed into the lake. The creatures, looking like giant newts had quickly found their way and set up home in the muddiest, rankest, swampiest area of shallow water and reed beds. They would have remained undetected except they tried to eat the dogs of a local couple who were walking the track around the reservoir and got the fright of their lives when the Eryops crawled up the bank towards them.

Stephen and his team had already been to the anomaly site to find it weakening and only a swathe of muddy tracks as evidence of what had come through. Not having a clue what to expect they tracked the Eryops down Bottoms Beck to where they lost the trail, leading as it did into the water. Several days of searching the reservoir revealed nothing, the entire operation easily passed off as a military dive exercise. Then the news of the attack was heard on the local radio station. They shifted the hunt from the depths of the lake to the shallows, quickly locating the giant amphibians, at which point it became a capture and contain operation. Despite being carnivores, the beasts were easy enough to capture once they were prised out of the mud. Weighing in at about seventy kilos they were caught by netting, once enticed out of the clinging marshy ground with chicken carcases. One of the smallest got free and Stephen, not thinking, leapt on it, tacking it like a greased pig.

Unfortunately for him, it had the strength and agility of a crocodile, sending him flying into the shallow mud and then adding insult to injury by trampling on him.

When the team arrived back at the newly finished ARC with the Eryops they opted to stay outside until they were all hosed off, their gear suffering the same fate, as well as the interior of the ute and transport truck.

Injuries had been scrapes and bruises, with Stephen taking the worse pounding from being trampled by the juvenile and a black eye from a tail swipe delivered by the angry creature.

Abby had tried not to laugh, fighting the urge until she reached their flat, managing just about to get the key in the door before doubling over and howling with laughter. Stephen took it in good part, padding barefoot into the bathroom in his borrowed white coveralls, his clothes consigned to the rubbish bin back at the ARC.

When he emerged half an hour later she was still giggling to herself.

"Now you know why I don't spend a fortune on clothes. I've lost more boots and trousers that way than any other." Stephen told her.

"You really were plastered," Abby chortled, coming up and throwing her arms about his neck to pull his head down for a kiss. "You smell a lot better now."

Later, over dinner, Stephen related some of the other team member's misfortunes, Abby having difficulty getting her seafood sushi down while laughing at the anecdotes.

"Hey...where did you disappear too?" Stephen asked at the end of the meal, stacking the plates and standing up, "I called, but they said you had to go out."

"Yeah." Abby fiddled with her chopsticks, "I had to go and have a check up."

Stephen carried the dishes to the kitchen then came back. "Nothing wrong is there? You didn't mention anything this morning?"

"Nope. Nothing wrong...exactly." Abby put her chopsticks down and reached out to stop him clearing the table. "Stephen...there's something I have to tell you."

He suddenly felt a spike of fear shoot through him. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all...I promise...I hope..." She broke off, biting her lip. Stephen had come to stand beside her, his expression anxious and puzzled.

"Abby, what? Tell me?"

"I went to the doctor because I thought...I suspected..." she looked down at her hands, then tilted her head to look up at him. "I'm pregnant."

For a second he stood there unmoving, his hand still resting lightly on his hips, his expression puzzled. Then he slowly crouched down beside her, his expression changing to one of surprise and wonder.

"Pregnant? Are you sure?" He looked up at her face, searching it.

"Yes. The test confirmed it." She reached out to touch him, but he grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing her fingers and palm.

"Oh my God...a baby?"

Abby laughed, "that's usually what you get when you're pregnant."

His eyes wandered down to her stomach, his hand reaching out to rest there, fingers splayed, Abby covering it with her own.

"When?"

"I'm only six weeks along at the moment...so not until around mid-November."

Stephen stood up, drawing her to stand up too. He drew her into a hug, then lifted her clear off the ground and spun her around, Abby clinging to his neck and squealing while he laughed out loud, landing them both on the couch in a tangle of limbs. He was kissing her wherever he could reach, Abby finally stopping him by holding his face between her hands so she could kiss him properly.

Making out on the couch led to making love in the bedroom, Stephen forgetting his aches and pains in the pleasure of making love to Abby. He pulled out all the stops until she sobbed his name as she climaxed, both of them sweaty and blissfully satisfied before slipping into sleep.

"Stephen..." he heard the voice but couldn't place it, his arms telling him that Abby still slept at his side.

"Wake up...I want to talk to you," something cold pressed against his cheek and his eyes snapped open to find a gun muzzle pointing at him.

"Hello Stephen...you have fallen on your feet!" The muzzled remained unwaveringly pointed in his face, but the woman behind it turned her head to stared pointedly at Abby curled up beside him. Stephen gave Abby a shake, but she didn't stir.

"Oh don't bother trying to wake her, I gave her a little something to let her sleep through." Helen held up a syringe in her free hand, the gun still rock solid in her other. Stephen remembered the flinch and wondered if it was possible for his heart have stopped beating.

Stephen felt every muscle in his body tense. "How the fuck did you find me? And what the fuck did you give Abby?!"

"Nothing lethal..." Helen threw the disposable syringe onto the bedside table, "just a sedative so she'll wake in the morning with a bit of a hangover, but at least she will be alive, which is more than you will be, if you try anything." Helen pulled back away from the side of the bed to give him room to move. "You know I'm not afraid to use this and I'm a pretty good shot...after all, you taught me." She smirked and waved the gun to indicate he get out slowly.

Stephen leant over Abby, checking she was breathing easily before easing his arm out from under her and turning to sit on the side of the bed. He was naked and Helen raked his body with an appreciative once over.

"Get dressed Stephen. As much as I admire the view, I have more important things to do than ogle you." She suddenly shifted the direction of the gun muzzle so it pointed at Abby. "And don't get any ideas...I'm faster on the trigger and just possessive enough to do it, so nice and easy and no one has to get hurt."

"If you've harmed her...I'll snap your neck like a twig."

"I've never underestimated you Stephen...always knew you had the killer instinct."

Stephen pulled on a shirt and pants and stood there in the darkened bedroom, his body now between the gun and Abby.

"Let's take this downstairs Helen...you didn't tell me how you found me."

Helen Cutter stepped back to let him pass, never once taking her eyes off him, the gun leveled at his back. "Not difficult really...once they officially sanctioned you taking over the life of a dead man."

She peered at his face and snorted. "What the hell happened to give you a black eye?"

"Nothing important. Was it you?" Stephen asked, switching on the light for the living room before passing into the kitchen. Helen followed and leant against the door frame.

"Was what me?"

"Was it you that got the Stephen from this time killed?"

"Not exactly. Time travel, popping in and out of anomalies, you see a great deal of strange things...not least crossing over time lines and meeting yourself here and there."

Stephen busied himself putting on the kettle, hoping to bleed some of the tension out of the situation. The Helen Cutter from his own time was indeed a formidable shot, and he had a healthy respect for her lack of morals or conscience if she chose to pull the trigger. He hoped he could play on her thinly disguised attraction to him, maybe wrest the gun from her at some stage if he was able to lull her into trusting him.

"I suppose I should be flattered you chose to follow me here Helen...I didn't think you cared, especially as you sabotaged my detector specifically to get me stranded here in the first place."

"Yes...I did. I made a promise to return Stephen to this time. My original plan didn't eventuate, so I had to come up with an alternate option."

"Nice of you to let me in on the plan. So why go back on it now?"

"Oh don't worry, I don't want you back...not in our time. I have the Nick there just where I want him. He's so full of guilt over your loss, he's a wreck." She noted Stephen's incredulous expression. "I'm aware you didn't have much time for him, but he harbored feelings for you you'd never believe. It was almost comically when it became obvious you'd been lost to time. Poor Nick...he really did care for you."

"You're enjoying all this," Stephen shook his head and turned away to fix himself a hot drink. His hand shook and he clenched it briefly to still the tremor.

"Not exactly. But let's cut to the chase. I want you to set up a meeting with Nick, I'll tell you where and when. You just make sure Lester doesn't know, and keep the military out of it as well."

"That's not going to be easy," Stephen replied, his mind racing. He turned to face Helen, blowing on his coffee to cool it. "But you just said you had Nick in your time under your thumb. Why bother with the one here?"

"I don't want Nick...but he'd want to know what I have to tell him." She smiled enigmatically and Stephen raised an eyebrow.

"Is that all? You want me to get Nick to a meeting with you, the person at the top of nearly everyone's most wanted list...on nothing more than - you have something to tell him?"

Helen's gaze flickered, her smile slipping as she tried for nonchalance. "Can you do it or not?"

"You'll have to give me a better reason. I'm not exactly his best mate here."

Now the smile slipped from her face completely, Stephen starting to get a niggle of unease running down his back. He stared at Helen more closely. A bead of sweat was quite improbably starting to run down the side of her face. It wasn't that warm.

"What aren't you telling me?" He pressed, putting the coffee down and approaching her. Helen had let her gun hand relax, the weapon no longer pointing at Stephen, but as soon as he moved, she brought it up to bear on him again.

"No closer Stephen," she waited for him to halt a couple of feet away before speaking again. "You have to get Nick to meet me...tell him it's life or death."

"He'll never fall for that Helen...too melodramatic even for you."

"Then tell him that Abby's life is the one in the balance. That should get his attention!"

"It's certainly got mine...don't even try to harm one hair on her head...I'll hunt you down..." He felt a red rage start to thrum through his blood, his fists bunching against his leg, his shoulders stiff with tension.

Helen's fixed stared faltered, but the gun remained pointed at his chest. "Get him to the meeting Stephen...here's the place. Just you and him, no one else." Her gaze flickered to the ceiling then back to him. "The less people who know I'm back the better. Keep the lizard girl from interfering."

Stephen gritted his teeth and refrained from rising to her bait, just nodding his head.

Helen tossed him a scrap of paper and he caught it, watching as she backed away from him then swept out the front door and was gone.

He stood for a minute or two, not moving, just willing his body to relax from the fighting stance knotting his muscles. Drawing in a breath he walked to the front door and closed it, bolting it as he always did. How Helen got in was a mystery, but he'd be changing all the locks as soon as the hardware store opened.

He flicked off the lights after cleaning up in the kitchen, his mind churning over what Helen had said, and more importantly, what she didn't say.

Entering the bedroom, he found Abby just as he'd left her. He disposed of the syringe and used the bathroom, then pulled off his clothes and slid under the covers. Gathering Abby's warm and relaxed body into his arms he cuddled her close, kissing the top of her head and hoping that whatever cocktail Helen had given her didn't adversely affect Abby or the baby.

The morning suddenly seemed a very long way off.

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to be continued...


	8. Cloak and Dagger

19/04/08

Title: Time and Distance

Chapter: Eight – Cloak & Dagger

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: 2 yrs post S2Ep7

Paring: Stabby all the way

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Stephen shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at the fallen leaves littering the damp ground. It was cold, the sun hidden behind thick clouds, the air damp with impending rain. Nick stood not far off, gazing up at the remains of the St.Thomas church and it's clock tower. The hands currently indicated the hour of eight so he slowly turned, looking for Helen's approach.

Seeing nothing he walked over to where Nick stood on the path.

"She's not coming."

"Then why arrange a meeting, if she's not going to be here. Pretty pointless."

"She's your wife."

Nick almost spat back that Stephen probably knew her better than he did, but remembered in time that this Stephen hadn't had the affair, hadn't been colluding with his wife for months, in fact that his wife, was probably not his wife at all being from another time. His head started to ache.

"No...she's his wife. My wife, as far as I know is still out there," he swung his arm wide, "among the anomalies doing God knows what."

"Or maybe she's been living a double life...in your time and mine." Stephen brought his hands up to blow on them, his breath making steam in the morning air. "Shit it's cold."

"What do you expect? Probably be roasting by midday if the clouds ever clear."

"Bloody English summer's." Stephen groused, lifting his head to scan the area again. He saw a figure approached. "She's here."

Nick turned to look and they both started walking towards her. They met in the middle of the formerly laid out Peace Garden, the tiny park deserted except for themselves.

"Hello Nick."

"Helen." He looked her up and down. "Are you mine or his?" Nick asked, his voice clipped.

"Does it matter?" Helen smiled at him, but faced by dour expressions on both of them the smile quickly slipped. "His, if it means a damn."

"I does. If you were mine, I'd have to shoot you," Nick shrugged, "I promised my Stephen, you see."

"Yes. You would." She looked over at Stephen and gave him an appraising look.

"Hello Stephen. How does it feel to be constantly reminded by Nick that you don't belong here?"

Stephen shrugged. "Here's as good as anywhere...why did you call this meeting?"

Helen turned to look at Nick. "I told Stephen it was a matter of life or death."

"He told me. Spit it out Helen...it's cold and I'd rather be anywhere than here."

Helen frowned at him. "I've a mind to just leave you to find out for yourselves..."

"And have you come back some other time and threaten us?" Stephen sniped, curling his lip.

"Shut up," Nick cut Stephen off and took a step forward to crowd Helen. "What is so important that you had to come yourself?"

Helen gave him a searching look, then dropped her eyes. "In four days there will be a major event. An anomaly will open and a man will come through. You have to shoot him as soon as he does."

"What?!" Stephen looked at her in disbelief. "Who the fuck is the poor sod and what did he do to deserve an execution?"

"I want to know why you've chosen us to be your executioners?" Nick added, his hands gravitating to his hips.

Helen held up her hands defensively. "Look...I said this was a matter of life and death. The life is the entire population of this planet...the death is the population of this planet, if you don't kill this man when he steps through the anomaly at the time and date I'll give you."

"And the why?" Stephen pushed.

"Because if he is allowed to get a foothold on your time, you will all die of a plague. There is no cure, no antidote, no survival rate."

Both Nick and Stephen looked at each other in horror, then back at Helen.

"How do know all this? Where does he come from?" Nick asked.

"Who he is, is irrelevant. He's a plague carrier from a time when disease is the only living organism still thriving." Helen explained, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"The future?" Again Nick and Stephen exchanged a quick glance. "The same future as the predator we've already met?"

"Further ahead than that. This event is the first of the super-anomalies, a wormhole to the future that you won't be able to close or contain if this man is allowed to step foot in this time." Helen looked suddenly exhausted, as if the telling of the awful news had drained her entirely. "Look, here is the information you need, it's all here on this disc. Don't believe me, believe the science. I've seen what this plague does, I've seen the end result. Do as I say and you'll have a better chance than the people had in my time." She looked directly at Stephen. "You might not thank me now, but I've saved you from dying...you would have perished the same as everyone else, the same as your precious Abby, if you'd stayed there."

"What are you saying, Helen...that the plague is already in my time, the one I left?"

"I'm saying that you can't afford to let this man touch anyone, breath on anyone or contaminate a single human in this time. Read the information on that cd. You have a couple of days to get ready, but remember that only the two of you can know about this. If anyone in the government learns what you know, they will try to contain it, control it, use it...and that way leads to annihilation."

"And you? What are you going to do Helen?" Nick asked.

"I'm going back to my own time. I don't know where your wife is Nick. I'm not her. If I was I'd try and escape into the past and live out my days there. But I'm not. I'm going back to my Nick, to my time and do what I can before the end of that world."

Both men stared at her in something between shock and disbelief.

Nick handed the disc to Stephen. They exchanged a look. They both turned to look at Helen, surprised to find her wiping her eyes.

"Helen...are you crying?"

She laughed, still mopping her eyes. "Don't sound so incredulous Nick. I may be all the thing you think me, but I'm still a woman...still human. This will be the last time I see you both...together. Allow me a chance to feel that emotion."

"It's all true then...all of it. How can you go back knowing it's for nothing?"

"I can't leave you...my Nick." She glanced at Stephen. "Sure, I wouldn't have minded having it all..." she turned back to face Nick, "but in the end, I still have you, and that's enough." She swiped her face again then drew in a deep breath. "I have to go now. There's not much time left back there, in my own time. I want to spend it with him, so you'll excuse me if I don't linger." She turned to go but Nick reached out his hand and grasped her arm, stopping her.

"Thank you Helen...we will read what it says on here, and take the necessary steps."

"Do that Nick...all of your lives depend on you keeping your word." She shook off his hand and walked away.

She got no further than half a dozen steps when a voice, amplified by a bullhorn, boomed out over the small park.

"Not another step Helen Cutter...you're under arrest!"

All three figures in the center of the Peace garden froze. Helen was the first to move, spinning around to spit at Nick.

"Fool!! I told you not to tell anyone!"

Both Nick and Stephen shook there heads. "We didn't tell anyone!"

Figures in black started to appear from the four corners of the park, converging with guns at the ready, on the trio at the center. Helen pulled out her anomaly detector and pointed it at nothing, pressing one of the buttons. At once the air started to shimmer and sparkle, an anomaly forming a few feet from where they stood.

One of the advancing SAS fired a shot, missing Helen but almost hitting Stephen instead. The anomaly was gaining strength, the edges hardening into the splintered light they were familiar with. The closest SAS was firing continually while running, one of the shots creasing Nick who fell, blood pouring from his lower leg.

"Nick!" Stephen shouted, crouching over him in a vain effort to protect him from further injury.

"Stop shooting you fools, you'll kill us all!" He twisted around just in time to see Helen vanish into the anomaly, the portal snapping shut just as the first soldier reached them, his gun pointed at Stephen, daring him to move. Soon more joined him, until Nick and Stephen were surrounded, one of the men kneeling down and administering to Nick's leg with a pressure bandage.

Stephen found himself hauled to his feet and held between two of the soldiers. The men in black parted and a man, who could have been Lester's clone, stalked through them, the bull horn handed off to one of the soldiers while he walked up to Stephen.

"Hand over whatever she gave you." He held out his hand, but Stephen only shook his head.

The Home Office man stared into Stephen's angry blue eyes then signaled to the men with a flick of his wrist. Stephen was systematically searched and the cd found.

"Dammit you could of got us both killed!" Stephen shouted after him, the man holding up the cd in reply and waving it as he walked away.

Nick was now on his feet, his leg encased in a thick bandage, his ruined trouser, sliced to the knee, flapping about his calf. The medic packed up his kit and instantly left, the other men, their guns still trained on Nick and Stephen, melting away from the scene until there was no one left in the Peace Garden except the two friends.

Nick looked dazed, Stephen pulling Nick's arm over his shoulder to support him before leading him, limping, back to where they'd parked the car.

"They gave me something...a painkiller I think...possibly antibiotics?" Nick slurred, leaning more heavily on Stephen as they approached the car.

"Keys," Stephen demanded, taking them when Nick handed them over. Awkwardly, he got Nick settled into the passenger seat. Still fuming, Stephen got into the drivers side and thumped the steering wheel.

"Get me home Stephen...I'm in dire need of a drink," Adjusting the seat, Nick angled it down and lay back, his arm over his eyes. Stephen turned on the ignition and started the car.

"Who the fuck was that?"

"I've seen him around the ARC, in Lester's office...but I didn't know exactly what his purpose was. Whoever he is, it's immaterial now. They have Helen's disc and we're screwed. The whole planet is screwed."

"Look, she said four days...there must be some way we can do something...Lester...?"

"We'll do what we can...I'll talk to Lester, see what he can do. Until I do, keep this under wraps. No one is to know...no one."

Stephen glanced over at Nick, his knuckles almost white on the steering wheel. "Abby's pregnant."

Nick raised his arm and stared at him. "You can't tell her Stephen. There may still be a chance we can do what Helen's asked us to do. You can't tell Abby anything!"

"Christ Nick..." Stephen choked in despair.

"I know..." Nick shut his eyes, hearing the agonized cry as if his own, and tried to will the pain away from the throbbing of his leg.

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Abby heard the door go and walked out of the kitchen, a spoon still in her hand.

"Abby?" Stephen's voice rang through the flat.

"Here...hi!" She found herself engulfed in strong arm and lifted off the floor. "Hey!"

Her simple welcome home peck on the cheek was buried in a kiss that left her toes curling and the dinner left to burn on the stove top. Only when an acrid smell intruded did she remember.

"Stephen, put me down...it's burning...oh no!"

"Leave it," Stephen commanded, pulling the spoon out of her hand and tossing it into the sink. A second later the ring under the simmering pot was switched off and Abby being towed at speed out of the kitchen, along the hallway to the bedroom.

"Stephen!" She didn't mind when he went all cave man on her, but tonight was an anniversary of sorts, and she'd wanted to surprise him. "You're early."

She squeaked when his hands lifted her again and tossed her on the bed, fingers flying to remove the clothes between them, his mouth keeping her busy while he worked on her leggings. When his hand found its way between her legs she stopped complaining and arched up to meet him, his mouth fastening on her breast and suckling hard bringing the nipple to a sensitive peak.

He made love to her as if he hadn't seen her in months, rather than the two days he'd been away. Her body hummed like a well tuned engine, his body the master mechanic, wringing every last drop of pleasure out of the act of coupling until they both lay panting and covered with sweat on top of the covers.

She stroked his hair, his head resting just under her breasts, and tried to get her breathing under control. Muscles still twitched in the aftermath and she was sure he had found a new ticklish place to exploit.

He shifted, his lips pressing against her belly and the roundness starting to show. She felt his finger tips painting circles on her skin, combing through her short hairs before dipping once more between her legs.

"Stephen...I love you to bits, but if we do what we just did again...I don't think I'll survive!" She chuckled, when he withdrew his tormenting fingers and twisted, rising up on his elbow to look down at her.

"I'll make sure you survive Abby...you and the baby. That's a promise."

He looked so serious, so intense that she felt a twinge of worry. Reaching up she smoothed the wrinkle between his eyes and smiled tentatively.

"What is it love? You're so serious..."

"Nothing..." She saw his throat work as he swallowed hard. "Nothing at all. I just missed you."

"I missed you too. How is everyone down in Manchester?"

"Fine, they're all fine...send their love and look forward to seeing you next month."

"That takes care of Nick, Lester, Jenny and the girls...how's Connor?"

Stephen grimaces slightly and looked away briefly. "He's okay. Been refining his latest gizmo and testing it with some success."

"He can close an anomaly?" Abby asked excitedly. Stephen shook his head.

"On the computer yes, in the test simulations, no problem. But in the field? No...not quite there yet."

"Oh poor Connor...but how's he looking Stephen?"

Heaving a sigh, he rolled over and lay on his back, his arm over his eyes. "You can ask him yourself next month."

Propping herself up on her elbow, she let her eyes travel the length of his long, lean body, the patch of silky hair at the base of his throat that she loved to stoke, the indecently long, well muscled legs and their shapely feet. He was everything she'd ever thought of and more, and all hers.

"I'm not asking to make you jealous...I'm just...curious."

"You want to know if he's suffering from losing you to me." Stephen stated bluntly, his accusing stare meeting hers before flicking away to stare at the ceiling.

"Bastard. No I'm not. I care about him, just as I do Nick, or Jenny..."

"Or Lester?"

"Hardly. I was with Connor so long, just as housemates and friends, and then as a couple. Is it any wonder I still think about him?"

Stephen blew out a breath and lowered his arm, pulling her in to rest her head on his shoulder. "No, it's not unreasonable. I'm just...it's been a difficult day. I just wanted to get home, to you."

"I'll have to make sure you don't leave home longer than a couple of days ever again, if that's your reaction to not being around me. Who knew?" Abby teased, poking him in the ribs.

"Yeah. Who knew..." Stephen echoed, running his hand up and down her back.

"A parcel came for you, special delivery. I put it on the side table." Abby told him, padding on bare feet out of the bedroom to return to their neglected dinner. He ogled her legs below the hem of one of his shirts, Abby giving him a sassy swing to her hips until she was out of sight.

Stephen swung his legs out of bed and pulled on a pair of boxers before following her, heading for where they usually placed any snail mail. Sure enough, there was slim, bright yellow and red packet waiting to be unwrapped. It was about the size and shape of a compact disk. He rummaged in a drawer and found some scissors, slicing the packet open and letting the contents slip out onto his hand.

He stared at the blank jewel case then checked the inside of the packet. Frowning, he pulled out a single sheet of paper folded over. Walking over to the couch he sat down, placing the cd on the low coffee table and sat back to read the accompanying letter.

"Stephen, use this as I told you to. If my other copy has been taken from you, use this one, because the information on the other is not entirely correct, just in case of this eventuality. Call Nick right now, you have two days to get to the co-ordinates. Make sure you hit the target."

It wasn't signed, but he knew who it was from. She must have suspected something would happen and made sure there was a back up. He hurried over to his computer in the corner and fired it up, slipping the cd into the slot when it was ready. Abby entered the room and he minimized the screen.

"What was in the parcel?"

"Something Nick and I are working on." He hedged, giving her a reassuring smile.

Abby smiled back, her expression quizzical but not suspicious. "Dinner will be in thirty. Lucky for you it's not entirely ruined." She returned to the kitchen after blowing him a kiss.

Stephen turned back to the screen and reached for his mobile. It was likely that Nick was being monitored. Hell, he was probably bugged as well. He'd have to send a message that Nick would interpret without giving the game away to those doing the watching.

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to be continued...


	9. Fighting the Future

21/04/08

Title: Time and Distance

Chapter: Nine – Fighting the Future

Author: Squeezynz

Setting: two years post S2Ep7

Pairing: Stabby all the way.

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"I'm freezing my bollocks off Cutter."

"Well, they'll have to stay frozen for now. It said three twenty so we've got," Nick checked his watch, "five minutes to go before the anomaly opens. Are you ready?"

"Been ready for the last hour. Fuck it's cold."

The coordinates detailed on the cd had led them to the Forest of Bowland, a wild, isolated area of heather covered moorland that was sparsely populated in the upland areas. The site they were looking for was just outside the tiny village of Slaidburn, currently experiencing a boom in tourist numbers, if you could equate having the local Inn posting a no-vacancy sign any indication. Situated as it was, sheltered by the Bowland Fells, the village was both isolated and accessible, and the most unlikely spot to potentially sound the death knell for the rest of the world.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Stephen asked, knowing fully well he'd checked the site out for himself.

Nick ignored him, casting a glance down at the anomaly detector in his hand. The screen remained frustratingly blank, no sign of the strong magnetic field usually associated with the phenomenon.

"Get up and move about, we can't afford to be caught napping. You saw the science the same as I did. If Helen is right, and there's no reason to suppose otherwise, we only get one chance to do this."

"What if she's played us for fools, and the bad guys have the right information? Have you thought of that?"

"Of nothing else...now shut up..." Nick glanced down at the detector, the device now starting to register something. "Stephen...it's here!"

They both rose to their feet as a point of light ten feet from where they stood started to coalesce into the familiar alien pattern of an anomaly. Nick dropped the detector and, like Stephen, lifted the gun to his shoulder and took aim at the splintered light shards slowly expanding, blinding in their intensity after the gloom of overcast afternoon.

"Shit. They'll be able to see this all the over Yorkshire." Stephen hissed, shifting his grip and sighting along the barrel.

"No they won't...steady now."

They watched the anomaly, not blinking, not moving. Nick squinting and wishing he'd thought to bring sunglasses to cut down the glare. The anomaly flickered and he drew in a breath, his heart thumping frenetically in his chest. Guns had never been his thing, always happy to leave the shooting up to the experts like Stephen, or the military guys. Now he willed his hand to stop shaking as a shadow appeared to pass over the flickering lights, a figure stepping through, his outline unclear but enough for Stephen to squeeze his trigger, the report sounding like a cannon firing so close to his ear. The man coming through the anomaly seemed to stagger, Stephen reloading and taking another shot, hitting the man so that he fell, his arms flailing, windmilling as he collapsed, half in and half out of the anomaly.

"Christ!" Stephen started forward, Nick at his side not having fired a shot. They approached the body, noting that it appeared to be dressed in ordinary clothes – trousers, jacket, boots, his hair a light colour and messy, his skin pale.

"Is he dead?" Nick asked, taking the gun from Stephen and waiting while the younger man donned a pair of surgical latex gloves and a mask before attempting to turn the man over, the man they'd just murdered.

Stephen dragged the body a little way beyond the anomaly before grasping the shoulders and rolling him. Stephen stared down into the face and fell back, his own expression ghastly in the light of the anomaly.

"Oh fuck..." Stephen suddenly scrambled to his feet, shoving the mask off his face and made it a few feet before he threw up, his body heaving repeatedly as he emptied his stomach.

Nick circled the body and approached Stephen, placing the guns on the ground.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just never killed a man before. Animals, reptiles, predators...but not a human."

Nick left him alone and walked back to the body. It lay as Stephen had left it, bit of dirt and debris stuck to the pale cheeks, the blue eyes staring sightlessly up at the star studded sky. He looked normal, not diseased or plague ridden, but peaceful.

As Nick drew closer he frowned. As he stood over the body he felt his own gorge rise. Stephen was a good shot, so good he'd managed to hit the man right in the head. Despite that, his features were plain to see despite the blood.

Nick Cutter stood staring down at his own face, his own body, the man Stephen had just shot was him. Reaction hit him like someone punching him repeatedly in the chest.

"Bloody hell."

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"I wonder where she sent the other guys?" Stephen asked, passing back the thermos cup for a refill.

They were sitting some distance from the anomaly, watching it pulse as it prepared to close. It had been weakening for some time, the detector recording the decrease in strength each time Nick checked. It would only be minutes before it closed for good.

They were both in a state of shock, but not so lost to all sense they hadn't completed all the instructions. The body had been zipped into a body bag, then into a second and currently occupied most of the boot of the car they'd hired for the trip to the Bowland Forest. The masks and gloves had been burnt, the small fired buried. Given some of the tallest vegetation was heather and bog, it was a bit of a misnomer to call it a forest, per se, but they weren't about to quibble. Now they just had to witness the anomaly closing and they could leave. They had a date with a cremator. The body would have to be disposed of, and short of a pyre, which didn't guarantee complete destruction of the corpse, they had to use facilities designed to do just that.

They also had to hope they didn't get stopped by the police at any stage. Explaining why they had a body in the boot that looked just like Nick Cutter would take some fancy finagling.

This went way beyond the official secrets act.

"Wherever they are, I hope they are royally pissed off," Nick replied, sipping his own coffee and trying to work out how he felt about finding out the supposed plague carrier was himself. "Aren't I supposed to disappear in a puff of smoke if I turn up in my own time while I'm still here? Isn't it a paradox or something?"

"Depends on your theory about time...or which one you subscribe too."

"I think I must subscribe to all of them by now. Why was it me?"

"God, I don't know Nick. Why did Helen send me back here?"

They exchanged a look, neither wanting to really discuss the ramifications of the amount of messing with time and space Helen Cutter seemed to do at will and without conscience.

"How are we going to explain turning up with a body to be cremated, without any paperwork?" Stephen asked.

"All arranged. I have discovered I have a rare talent for forgery."

Stephen stared at Nick, both eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline. "What!?"

"I forged Lester's signature. As far as anyone knows, we are dropping off a creature that died because it wasn't used to our low level of oxygen in the atmosphere. A Cotylosaur, species Seymouria that wandered through an anomaly and scared the living crap out of some poor farmer."

"That's our cover story?"

"The best I could come up with."

"Then let's hope it holds."

They watched the anomaly fade to a pinpoint then disappear. Without another word the two men gathered they few belongings and trekked back to the car for the second time that day. They had a long drive to reach Birmingham and their appointment with the cremation staff when they opened at eight in the morning.

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Stephen pulled his key out of the door and winced when the hinges creaked loudly. He paused and listened, then let out his breath, closing the door fully and locking it behind him.

He was exhausted, from the trip back and the fraught day starting with the drive down from Yorkshire to Birmingham, to make the deadline for the disposal of the body. That side of things had gone remarkably smoothly, the paperwork passing the cursory inspection of the crematory manager, the man not batting an eyelid when Cutter rambled on about the species and its prehistoric origins, the body bag not inspected beyond the most fleeting, being loaded without due ceremony into a large wooden box tray to facilitate the process, before entering the cremator, the whole to be reduced to ashes in a matter of an hour or two.

Stephen had to admire Nick's sheer bravado during the entire nail biting experience, Stephen still suffering from reaction to shooting his first real person. That the person turned out to have Nick's face had been the final straw, the whole situation taking on a bizarre quality that he was still having difficulty dealing with. The fact that he'd shot Nick was distressing enough, trying to sort out the ramifications and reasoning behind it, was something beyond understanding.

Nick had invited him to stay another night, but he'd wanted, needed to get home to Abby, just to reassure himself that life had carried on despite his and Nick's clandestine date with the future.

He had his own theory of who or more precisely where the Nick Cutter they just killed had come from. In his theory, it was the Nick from Helen's time, the one she'd gone back for. It was quite possible that she had convinced that Nick to end his life before the plague took it from him, one last trip into the past before he walked through the designated anomaly and he, Stephen, shot him. All arranged by his loving wife. God, he felt nauseas again.

The flat was dark, as he'd expect give the hour, but a light was still on in the hallway leading to the bedroom. He threw his keys on the side table and drew off his jacket, tossing it over the back of a chair before walking towards the bedroom door. The murmur of voices made him check, his hand reaching out to the wall to steady himself. He had told Abby he would be home the following day, but here he was, a good twelve hours earlier than expected and she had someone in the bedroom with her.

He drew closer to the door and paused, his pulse drumming loudly in his ear. He could make out Abby's voice through the panel, and another answering her – male.

His fingers dug into the door frame, his nails leaving crescents in the soft wood.

Drawing in a breath to steady himself and rein in some of the black emotion rising up to choke him, Stephen turned the handle and pushed the door wide.

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Abby glanced at the clock, then checked herself. She was behaving like some idiotic worry wort. Stephen would be back the next day, and she was sure he'd explain it all to her then. She really didn't have anything to worry about, other than clearing up her paperwork before she left for her check up.

"Hey!" Abby jerked her head up to see Connor standing, hands in pockets, in the doorway to her office.

"Hey yourself." She rose to her feet, unsure whether to hold out her hand or give him a hug. Connor seemed to be in the same dilemma, choosing to walk further in, then look around.

"You're own office...a step up." Connor observed, inspecting a shelf burdened with fossil fragments and journals.

"I share it with Stephen, so not exactly all my own. How have you been Connor?"

His eyes met hers then slid away. "Fine...yourself?"

"I'm fine. I thought I wouldn't see you until next month, when we came down for another of Lester's meetings?"

"Yeah...well...I had to come up to this neck of the woods...so I thought I'd pop in." He gave her a quick half smile, then went back to his contemplation of the fossils.

"Stephen is away at the moment...and I have an appointment in half an hour." She bit her lip, not sure whether she should ask. "Would you like to tag along?"

To her surprise, that seemed to brighten him up. He didn't ask her who the appointment was with. "Sure...then we could go for a drink."

"How about a coffee?" Abby hedged, not sure how she was going to break it to Connor about her changed circumstances. "Just give me a moment. Why don't you go look around, I'll meet you in the main loading dock, okay?"

"Sure." He hesitated, as if unsure whether to just walk out or do something more personal. In the end he raised his hand half way then ducked out the door. Abby sighed and sat down. She had known it was going to be difficult, but this was almost impossible.

Connor looked suitably surprised when they drew up to the Medical Center. He looked sideways at Abby. "Are you sick?"

"Not sick. I just have to have a check up. You can wait here, if you like, or come in."

"I'll come in."

Abby didn't satisfy his obvious curiosity, announcing herself to the receptionist before seating her self in the waiting room. Connor sat beside her, but looked uncomfortable.

"Why do you need a check up?" he asked her in a whisper. Abby mentally girded her loins and drew in a breath to steady herself.

"I'm pregnant."

If she'd hit him with a large mallet she couldn't have produced a more surprised look on his face.

"What?"

Abby didn't answer him, her eyes firmly fixed forward. Connor started to fidget in earnest.

"How the fuck can you be pregnant?"

"The usual way."

"But I thought we'd agreed..."

"When I was with you, yes I did...we did..." Abby flushed hotly as his scrutiny bordered on manic. "Stop staring at me Connor."

"Didn't wait around much. Ink's hardly dry on the paper."

"And I'm not getting any younger. This is all moot Connor. Can't we at least be friends?"

She could see that he was fighting hard to keep his emotions under control, his eyes shutting for a long moment, his mouth compressed into a thin line. He visibly relaxed his posture, so that when he opened his eyes there was nothing there but a bland acceptance.

"Congratulations. When is it due?" He smiled, the effect not reaching his eyes.

Abby only heard the words, not seeing the expression because she was smoothing her hands down her jeans and watching them, not his face.

"Thank you. Sometime in November. That's why I'm here today, to have an initial scan to determine a date." She glanced up at him, seeing what she wanted to see.

"Stephen is a lucky man." Connor managed to get past his stiff lips.

At that moment the nurse called her name. Abby got up then turned to face Connor. "I'll be about half an hour. You okay to wait?"

"Sure. I'll be here when you're done."

She smiled at him then turned to leave. Connor sat there, maintaining his relaxed posture until the door shut behind her, then all semblance of control vanished and he leapt to his feet to pace over to the glass wall looking out over the car park. He repeatedly ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it standing in spikes, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a grimace. Unable to stay still, he flung out of the reception area and through the door to pace outside.

He'd arrived at the new ARC with some half cocked idea he could talk her back into returning with him, returning to their life. He still had feelings for her, and she obviously still had feelings for him, so it made sense she'd have tired of that interloper with Stephen's face and be ready to start again, with him, Connor.

But now, her announcement put a new perspective on everything. She was pregnant.

Out of sight of the front reception area, Connor paced among the parked cars, his fist hitting against their metal panels as he passed, the punches sometimes hard enough to leave dents. Only when one of his punches set off the car alarm did he stop it, stuffing his bruised knuckles into the pockets of his jeans and putting as much distance between him and the wailing car as possible.

He met Abby coming out of the Medical Center, his posture as relaxed an nonchalant as he could make it. Abby smiled at him and waved.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." She rummaged for her keys before unlocking the drivers door.

"No problem. Just been taking in the air. Everything alright?" He slid into the passenger side.

"Yeah. Every thing's fine." She turned on the ignition. "Still up for that coffee?"

"Yeah. You know the area better than I do, you pick."

It was dark by the time they returned to the flat, Abby offering Connor a nightcap before he left to take a taxi to his hotel. Connor agreed readily, eager to see how his ex-wife was living. He couldn't help giving in to the whistle of appreciation when he saw her new accommodation.

"Geez Abby. Did you win the pools?" He stood just inside the front door and looked around. "I half expected you to be in a some bedsit by the canals."

"I was, in a bedsit anyway, when I first moved to Rotherham. But since we had to move closer, and this place had just come on the market..."

"You own this place?" Connor stared around again, calculating the cost.

"Well...Stephen does."

"How the hell..." Connor shook his head. "He's looking after you real well then?"

"Very well. Do you want another coffee or something stronger. We have beer, and I think there might be some wine...?"

"I'll have a beer."

Abby padded off to the kitchen, leaving Connor to peer into the various tanks, reacquainting himself with her reptile collection, Rex the Second cocking his head when Connor spoke to him. Abby returned and held out a stubby.

"Not going to have one with me?" Connor asked. Abby shook her head. He wandered over to one of the comfortable looking couches and flopped down on to it, sprawling his legs out and taking up most of the space. "This is certainly a step up Abby...a definite step up."

Abby seated herself opposite him, her legs curled up underneath her. "So what are your plans, Connor?"

"Plans?"

"You know...I mean...are you getting out, meeting people...that sort of stuff."

"I'm not fucking anyone, if that's what you're asking. Not even Alison."

"Alison? Who's Alison?"

"Rainbow Aurora. Gave that all up after you left." He took a slug of his beer. "Left off doing a lot of things when you left."

"I didn't ask you to. But for the record, why did you?"

"She was costing a bloody fortune for one thing. And once you went, I found it had lost it's appeal."

Abby stared at him. "Lost its appeal? You mean it was only exciting because it was illicit while you were married to me? You beggar belief Connor, you really do."

"You never understood!" Connor snapped.

"I'm not sure that anyone could!" Abby retorted, feeling so uncomfortable, she had to get up and do something, anything to take her mind of the implications of what he'd said.

She found herself in the kitchen, going through the motions of making a cup of tea, her mind in turmoil. Connor followed her in and stood leaning against the door jamb.

"I miss you Abbs...really miss you."

Abby bit her lip to stop the hurtful words she wanted to shout at him from spilling out. "I miss you too Connor...I miss the friend I used to have."

Connor put the beer on the table and sidled up to her, surprising her by putting his arms about her.

"Connor let go. You can't do this now."

"Why not? You just said you missed me...I'm your husband..."

"Ex husband...now get off." Abby threw off his embrace and moved beyond his reach. "Maybe you should go now."

Connor looked sulky, walking back to where he left his beer and tipping the bottle to down the last mouthful. Slamming it back on the table top, he watched it teeter for a second before it righted itself. "Not yet Abby...you haven't given me a tour of the place...what's in here?" he pulled open the nearest door handle to reveal the small laundry leading off the kitchen.

"Connor...no really, I think..."

"Come on Abbs...you've got a great place, no expense spared...here's your chance to show it off, rub my nose in it...show me all the things you have now, that we never had when we were together. Show me how much of a better life this impostor is making for you. Is there a nursery?" And he was off, leaving Abby standing in the kitchen, her fingers digging into the bench surround, wishing that Stephen were here to lend her moral support.

Gritting her teeth, she switched off the kettle and followed Connor out of the kitchen. Maybe if she did as he asked, he'd get fed up and leave. It wouldn't be soon enough.

The last place they inspected was the master bedroom, Abby avoiding it, but Connor making a beeline for the only door not opened despite her protests.

"What's behind here? Are yes...the hub of the house, the master bedroom...except the master isn't here, is he Abby? Just you and me and the embryo swimming about in there," he jabbed a finger at Abby's middle, but she batted it away.

"Not funny Connor. It's time for you to leave. I don't want you in here, and I know Stephen wouldn't want you here."

"I bet he wouldn't...sanctimonious prat. Doesn't he know he's dead already? Should know when to lay down and stay dead, not rise up and steal a man's wife!"

"God Connor...he didn't steal me...our marriage was already shot to pieces long before he came on the scene."

She tried to grab his arm and pull him out of the room, but he twisted and she found herself propelled backward to sit heavily on the bed, Connor kicking the bedroom door shut at the same time.

"But he did come back, didn't he...and you always did have a soft spot for good ol' Stephen. So tall and handsome, so confident and heroic. Wasn't much of a hero when it came out he slept with his best friends wife, was it? Even you, little miss prig, turned your nose up at him then."

"Stop this...it wasn't like that."

"Wouldn't have a bar of the poor bastard after that. Shut him out good and proper, gave him the patented cold shoulder and froze him out. Never stood a chance...was probably glad to die knowing he'd fucked up his relationship with everyone so completely. Probably figured there was no point to living any longer now that you and Cutter and everyone thought him a traitor."

"Shut up...it's not true."

Ignoring her, Connor continued. "And then, what do you know? He comes back from the dead, all hale and hearty and heroic as ever, and everything is forgiven and forgotten and he's back in the fold. So back he's even got you panting after him again, so eager and ready to let him into your knickers...so don't look to sanctimonious about me and Alison...he probably came back just because you wished him back every second you were married to me!"

"No...Connor...don't say that.."

"And now you're going to have his baby...another bloody Hart to clutter up the world and make the rest of us look like fools."

"I'm not listening any more Connor, this is all rubbish. I want you to go...now!" Abby got up and tried to reach the door handle, but he was there before her, wrenching her hand away and sending her spinning back towards the bed.

"Ah, ah aaaah!" he wagged his finger at her, "you don't want to do that. You said yourself, he's not back until tomorrow...so why don't you made room for me. Give us one for old times sake..eh Abby?" He advanced on her, his back to the door, blocking her view, neither of them seeing Stephen's entrance. "I won't tell him, and I know you won't. Just one more fuck for your ex husband."

"Ex is bloody right!" Stephen lunged at Connor, spun him around and landed a blow on the younger man's jaw that sent him reeling to hit the wall.

Connor recovered quickly, wiping the trickle of blood away from the corner of his mouth before looking up at Stephen. "Bastard!"

Pushing himself away from the wall, Connor threw himself at Stephen, the two grappling for a moment before Stephen, the taller of the two, managed to land a punch that winded his opponent and sent him to the floor to writhe helplessly.

In the lull, Stephen looked over at Abby who had sensible retreated to the far side of the bed and safety.

"You alright?"

"Fine." Abby's eyes were dark with shock, her face pale. "Can you get him out of here?"

"Call a taxi, I'll get him out the front door."

Using the phone by the bed, she did just that, while Stephen hauled Connor to his feet and started to manhandle him out of the bedroom. Connor struggled, but was helpless against Stephen's vice like grip. Abby scooted past them both after making the call, holding the front door open for Stephen to bundle Connor through.

"Go wait inside, I'll stay with him until the taxi arrives."

Abby stared at Stephen then nodded, turning her back on her former husband without a second glance. Stephen held Connor in front of him with the young man's arm twisted behind his back to prevent any further fighting.

"You're bloody lucky I don't break your fucking arm Temple," he hissed, his grip unrelenting when Connor made an attempt to free himself. "If you so much as come within a mile of Abby when I'm not around, I'll rip your fucking head off. I'm not the old Stephen, I'm the new Stephen and I'm not afraid to mark that pretty face of yours if you threaten me or my family ever again. Are we clear?"

The taxi was heading up the road towards them. Stephen released his grip on Connor, who sucked in a sharp breath and massaged his sore arm as he walked towards the road side. Stephen remained on the door step and watched the younger man. Connor glanced only once over his shoulder at Stephen, his expression shuttered and mutinous, before he climbed into the taxi and was gone.

Taking a moment, Stephen watched the red tail lights and tried to relax his tense shoulders. Subduing Connor had been easy, not pummeling the stupid wanker into a bloody pulp had been the hard bit. Turning on his heel, he re-entered the house, finding Abby waiting for him just inside. Without saying a word they came together, arms wrapped around each other, letting jangle nerves and tense muscles find their release in reassurance and security.

Stephen freed up an arm and flipped the locks on the door, before turning out the lights, leaving only the bedroom light to guide them. Together they made their way to the room, Stephen kicking the door shut behind him before laying down, still fully clothed on the covers with Abby scooting over to wrap herself around him again.

"You alright?" he asked her again, this time without the harsh anger in his voice. He knew she was, but he wanted to, needed to hear her say so.

"Really...I'm fine. He didn't touch me."

He tightened his grip on her and kissed her hair. "Good. I came at the right time then."

"You have no idea how glad I was to see you." Her muffled voice sounded a bit tearful. "He wouldn't have hurt me...but it was getting ugly."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault. He's just a sore loser..."

"I'm not some prize pig at a fair to be fought over!" Abby's indignant squawk made him sigh.

"No, not even remotely. But it did give me a chance to vanquish the baddy and rescue fair maiden, so I'm not complaining."

"My hero. Although Connor is hardly in your league...you're taller, fitter and you can handle a gun."

"Which is why he got to leave with all his limbs still attached."

"Poor Connor..."

"Oh no...don't you dare. He had his chance...and lost you. I won't be making the same mistake." Loosening his hold, he rolled until she was on her back, his body poised over her. "He's only poor in as much as he doesn't have you in his life to love," he kissed her, " to hold," he kissed her again, "to make wild, passionate love to," he kissed her again and again. "I'm the richest man in the world because I have you. But even rich men have their limits, so no more 'poor Connor'."

"Tyrant." Abby said affectionately.

"Tease," Stephen replied, his hands pushing up her hoody to stroke the warm skin beneath.

"I had my check up today."

He paused in his stroking, his expression serious. "Everything okay?"

"No problems at all."

"Wish I could have been there...did they give you a date?"

"Put a ring around the week starting the third of November...give or take a day or so."

He grinned, ducking his head to kiss her torso just above the waistband of her jeans. Abby giggled. After the disastrous end to the evening, this was just what she needed. Stephen lifted his head and grinned back at her.

"You're wearing far too many clothes." He started to unbutton her jeans.

"And you're impatient...just because it's been more than twenty four hours..." she wiggled her hips to allow him to draw off the tight trousers, kicking them off her feet to fall somewhere on the floor.

"Jesus, that long? I think I'll expire if I have to wait a second longer." He pulled his own shirt over his head and threw it away, Abby's fingers flattening against his chest and tweaking a impudent nipple.

"Are you going to tell me what you and Nick have been up to?"

"Nope." He nuzzled her breast through her bra, biting on the tip and making her squeal.

"Ow...easy on the teeth Dracula!"

He returned his mouth to her breast and this time drew the injured tip fully into his mouth and suckled. Abby crooned and stroked her fingers through his hair, anchoring him in place.

She tried again. "Not even a hint of what you two have been doing?"

"Only that we've been saving the world and return as unsung heroes, to pillage and plunder our reward."

"What does pillage mean exactly?"

His hand found it's way into her knickers and between her legs. "Too much talking and not enough moaning...concentrate woman."

Abby obliged by arching against his hand and sighing against his mouth. Her arms wrapped themselves about his neck while her lower body wriggled and tried to get him to press against her sweet spot.

"Stephen?" Abby growled, gasping when he obliged and circled her clit with a slick finger, making her buck against his hand.

He watched her reactions, his own body begging to bury itself in her sweet heat. He loved watching her fair skin flush pink, her body trembling against him as she strained to reach her peak. Abruptly he pulled his hand out of her underwear, almost ripping off his own remaining clothes in his eagerness to claim her as his own.

Not bothering to remove her knickers, he pushed the damp, silky fabric to one side and buried himself between her legs, Abby wrapping her legs around him, her hands clutching at the headboard to give herself leverage to push back as he pounded inside her.

Several positions later he finally allowed himself the release he was craving, his shout as he came loud enough that Abby feared the neighbours would be hammering on the walls for a bit of peace before much longer. Sweaty, exhausted and floating on a cloud of contentment, they lay back to front, legs entangled, among the wreckage of the bed covers.

When his heart finally stopped racing, Stephen nuzzled Abby's shoulder, pressing kisses to her salty skin until she responded by pushing her delightful bottom into his groin to distract him.

"Abby?"

"Mmmm??"

"Marry me."

" Kay..."

"Abby?"

"Hmmm?"

"Did you hear me, I said – 'marry me'."

"I know...I said 'yes'. Can I go back to sleep now?" She hadn't even opened her eyes.

Stephen chuckled against her back and admitted defeat. "Yeah..go back to sleep. I'll ask you again in the morning."

"S'okay...love you..."

"Love you too." He replied, settling himself against her before pulling up the covers, Abby already asleep in his arms.

He lay for several minutes, listening to her breath, his hand spread out protectively across her belly, imagining the life growing there.

Life had carried on, despite him and Nick saving the world, an act that would never be acknowledged or recognized by anyone beyond the two of them. It would be the one secret he'd keep from her, and take to his grave. They'd probably save the world several times over between the pair of them, Nick as well, and risk their lives for people that don't even know they exist. Even their child wouldn't know how much its future depended on what its parents do in secret.

But they'd be together, and maybe one day they'd get to join Greenpeace or some other conservation project and leave anomalies and dinosaurs where they belonged – in the past.

For now, he had a future, a family on the way and someone to take care of and love. Who could ask for anything more.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Time and Distance – the end.


End file.
